New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Micaela Y. Chan, Liang Han, Gagan S. Wig: Systematic fMRI signal differences across cohorts alter lifespan trajectories of functional brain networks doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...

🚨& 🧵 Our new Nature paper is out! Across 46 cohorts and up to 1.14M people per Big Five trait, we do GWAS and ask how robust, generalizable and consequential the genetic signals underlying personality really are. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Take-home: Combining data increases power, but a larger N won’t always improve inferences if data features differ across cohorts. When combining cohorts/studies (e.g., multiple lifespan segments of the HCP), data harmonization and reporting of how this was achieved is critical.

Harmonization can mitigate these HCP cohort differences, but implementation matters! Example here shows harmonization correcting for ‘protocol’ was more optimal than correcting for ‘site.’

These young-adult dips and blips are not typical lifespan patterns, and we show this using two independent reference lifespan datasets: NKI-Rockland Sample (NKI) and Dallas Lifespan Brain Study (DLBS). Neither showed the marked young-adult deviation seen in the HCP data.

The cohort-level signal differences in HCP-YA distort measurements of brain network organization, resulting in surprising decreases and increases in multiple measure of brain organization during young-adulthood.

The human connectome project (HCP) is an amazing open resource that spans from development to old adulthood. But the scanners/protocol weren’t identical across cohorts, resulting in cohort-differences in signal-to-noise ratio in the functional scans (e.g., resting-state).

Combining data to study lifespan brain aging is tempting: more data and wider age range! But mixing data across scanners/protocols without proper harmonization can bias age effects, including studies using high-quality HCP data. Imaging Neuroscience🔔doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.1338

Using HCP data to examine lifespan differences in functional brain activity or network organization? See below! A reminder that even subtle differences in data acquisition between cohorts can change our conclusions. This issue will only become more relevant as we pool neuroimaging datasets.

Micaela Chan@micaelachan.bsky.social · 3w ago

Combining data to study lifespan brain aging is tempting: more data and wider age range! But mixing data across scanners/protocols without proper harmonization can bias age effects, including studies using high-quality HCP data. Imaging Neuroscience🔔doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.1338

How can we acquire new knowledge and skills on a daily basis while remaining the same person? I'm excited to share our new preprint led by @hyejinjadelee.bsky.social & Ally Dworetsky tackling this question, just in time for #OHBM2026: doi.org/10.64898/202... 🧵👇 #neuroskyence #PsychSciSky

Functional brain organization is stable within individuals across years

Brain regions exhibit dynamic yet highly coordinated activity patterns that form large-scale functional networks measurable through resting-state correlations. While their association with fluctuating...

doi.org

Openly shared implementation of TMS targeting is still rare, so we are pleased to make ours freely available for research use: github.com/ThomasYeoLab... Let us know if you have any issue running it!

Thomas Yeo@bttyeo.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Our TMS algorithm is now published in @imagingneurosci.bsky.social doi.org/10.1162/IMAG... If you are coming to @ohbmofficial.bsky.social @ohbmtrainees.bsky.social, come check out our poster about our open label trial. Poster number 1152 Monday, Jun 15 | 14:45-15:45 Tuesday, Jun 16 | 13:30-14:30

What matters most for childhood brain organization? We analyzed 649 variables. The answer: Socioeconomics (SES); with brain patterns pointing at sleep & stress as drivers. Even brain-IQ associations were better explained by SES. In Science today: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Do humans show sex differences in brain activation? If so, are these task-specific or general — and do they relate to sex differences in brain anatomy and behavior? We dove deep into these questions in a new paper just out in Nature Communications | tinyurl.com/3rdrb524

Anti-science politicians and activists are spreading misinformation about science in Oregon. These misinformation campaigns have put the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) at risk of closure. We’re asking you to use your voice. savescienceoregon.org/butter #standupforscience

We're hiring! FT research assistant @ UT Dallas Join our team to work on a longitudinal neuroimaging study of midlife brain aging. Strong opportunity for those interested in brain networks, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease risk. App. deadline now May 15. Details: jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/31680

Indiana University is in great financial health, according to a recent independent analysis. The report says administrative costs have grown significantly while instruction and faculty pay lagged. @weiss-a-woni.bsky.social Read more: www.ipm.org/news/2026-04...

"The differences between modern human and Neanderthal brains, as estimated from endocranial reconstructions, do not meaningfully exceed those among different modern human populations." www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Neanderthal brain and cognition reconsidered | PNAS

Neanderthal endocrania are different in shape, though slightly larger in size than modern humans on average. These shape differences have long been...

pnas.org

We're hiring! FT research assistant @ UT Dallas Join our team to work on a longitudinal neuroimaging study of midlife brain aging. Strong opportunity for those interested in brain networks, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease risk. App. deadline May 6. Details: jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/31680

Function & cytoarchitecture don't overlap ... they're orthogonal. Prefrontal cortex is plastered with chains of functional patches previously mostly known from face processing. Why multi-modal parcellations are wrong ... and other insights hidden by group-averaging of fMRI data. great explainer👇🏻

Evan Gordon@gordonneuro.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I always assumed that brain function had to line up with cytoarchitectonics. It turns out I was wrong. Human cortex, especially PFC, is tiled by chains of functional patches that subdivide and interlink architectonic areas into parallel processing streams. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Join this talented team! 🧠✨ Click on post below for details.

Gagan Wig@gaganwig.bsky.social · 5mo ago

We're hiring! FT research assistant @ UT Dallas Join our team to work on a longitudinal neuroimaging study of midlife brain aging. Strong opportunity for those interested in brain networks, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease risk. App. deadline May 6. Details: jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/31680

Come join our awesome team 😎

Gagan Wig@gaganwig.bsky.social · 5mo ago

We're hiring! FT research assistant @ UT Dallas Join our team to work on a longitudinal neuroimaging study of midlife brain aging. Strong opportunity for those interested in brain networks, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease risk. App. deadline May 6. Details: jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/31680

We're hiring! FT research assistant @ UT Dallas Join our team to work on a longitudinal neuroimaging study of midlife brain aging. Strong opportunity for those interested in brain networks, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease risk. App. deadline May 6. Details: jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/31680

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 I am thrilled to announce an editorial collaboration between 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 and 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬. With @bartolomuccilab.bsky.social, I am co-editing a virtual special issue focused on: 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴-𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨

New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by Peiying Liu, Hanzhang Lu, et al: Non-invasive MRI of choroid plexus vascular function doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...

White matter pathways mediating dorsolateral prefrontal TMS therapy for depression New @natneuro.nature.com paper led by Caio Seguin, Robin Cash, and Andrew Zalesky. We map (indirect) pathways from DLPFC to SGC and link individual variation with response efficacy. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Can't wait for our individual RFAs to open this summer? We now offer Small/Working Group Meeting grants on a rolling basis! If you have an idea for a meeting topic relevant to network interests, click the link below for more information!

Small/Working Group Meetings | Animal Models for the Social Dimensions of Health and Aging Research Network

The Research Network is pleased to offer grants for small/working group meetings with the aim of facilitating collaboration among Network members and affiliates and prospective Network members. These…

animalsocialaging-network.org

PNAS: Correspondence of large-scale functional brain network decline across aging mice and humans https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2527522123?af=R

This image of home just came down from the Artemis II crew. Taken after their translunar injection burn, there are aurorae at top right and lower left, and zodiacal light at lower right. Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman

Humans live many more years than mice, but our brain networks are aging much faster. Brain network decline follows a common trajectory across mouse and human adulthood, with features of network organization linked to more rapid decline. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

How do we define "good" fMRI data? Especially with resting state, there are circularity risks if we evaluate data quality as showing the networks we expect to see. Javier Gonzalez-Castillo (& me & others) developed pBOLD, a new metric that uses multi-echo info. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/8