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author Bayer, Johanna M. M.
de Boer, Augustijn A. A.
Rehak-Bucova, Barbora
Fraza, Charlotte J.
Banaschewski, Tobias
Barker, Gareth J.
Bokde, Arun L. W.
Bruehl, Ruediger
Desrivieres, Sylvane
Flor, Herta
Garavan, Hugh
Gowland, Penny
Grigis, Antoine
Heinz, Andreas
Lemaitre, Herve
Martinot, Jean-Luc
Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillere
Artigues, Eric
Nees, Frauke
Orfanos, Dimitri Papadopoulos
Paus, Tomas
Poustka, Luise
Smolka, Michael N.
Holz, Nathalie
Vaidya, Nilakshi
Walter, Henrik
Whelan, Robert
Wirsching, Paul
Schumann, Gunter
Initiative, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging
Kraguljac, Nina
Beckmann, Christian F.
Marquand, Andre F.
author_facet Bayer, Johanna M. M.
de Boer, Augustijn A. A.
Rehak-Bucova, Barbora
Fraza, Charlotte J.
Banaschewski, Tobias
Barker, Gareth J.
Bokde, Arun L. W.
Bruehl, Ruediger
Desrivieres, Sylvane
Flor, Herta
Garavan, Hugh
Gowland, Penny
Grigis, Antoine
Heinz, Andreas
Lemaitre, Herve
Martinot, Jean-Luc
Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillere
Artigues, Eric
Nees, Frauke
Orfanos, Dimitri Papadopoulos
Paus, Tomas
Poustka, Luise
Smolka, Michael N.
Holz, Nathalie
Vaidya, Nilakshi
Walter, Henrik
Whelan, Robert
Wirsching, Paul
Schumann, Gunter
Initiative, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging
Kraguljac, Nina
Beckmann, Christian F.
Marquand, Andre F.
contents Brain charts have emerged as a highly useful approach for understanding brain development and aging on the basis of brain imaging and have shown substantial utility in describing typical and atypical brain development with respect to a given reference model. However, all existing models are fundamentally cross-sectional and cannot capture change over time at the individual level. We address this using velocity centiles, which directly map change over time and can be overlaid onto cross-sectionally derived population centiles. We demonstrate this by modelling rates of change for 24062 scans from 10795 healthy individuals with up to 8 longitudinal measurements across the lifespan. We provide a method to detect individual deviations from a stable trajectory, generalising the notion of thrive lines, which are used in pediatric medicine to declare failure to thrive. Using this approach, we predict transition from mild cognitive impairment to dementia more accurately than by using either time point alone, replicated across two datasets. Last, by taking into account multiple time points, we improve the sensitivity of velocity models for predicting the future trajectory of brain change. This highlights the value of predicting change over time and makes a fundamental step towards precision medicine.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_07591
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Charting the velocity of brain growth and development
Bayer, Johanna M. M.
de Boer, Augustijn A. A.
Rehak-Bucova, Barbora
Fraza, Charlotte J.
Banaschewski, Tobias
Barker, Gareth J.
Bokde, Arun L. W.
Bruehl, Ruediger
Desrivieres, Sylvane
Flor, Herta
Garavan, Hugh
Gowland, Penny
Grigis, Antoine
Heinz, Andreas
Lemaitre, Herve
Martinot, Jean-Luc
Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillere
Artigues, Eric
Nees, Frauke
Orfanos, Dimitri Papadopoulos
Paus, Tomas
Poustka, Luise
Smolka, Michael N.
Holz, Nathalie
Vaidya, Nilakshi
Walter, Henrik
Whelan, Robert
Wirsching, Paul
Schumann, Gunter
Initiative, Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging
Kraguljac, Nina
Beckmann, Christian F.
Marquand, Andre F.
Neurons and Cognition
Quantitative Methods
Brain charts have emerged as a highly useful approach for understanding brain development and aging on the basis of brain imaging and have shown substantial utility in describing typical and atypical brain development with respect to a given reference model. However, all existing models are fundamentally cross-sectional and cannot capture change over time at the individual level. We address this using velocity centiles, which directly map change over time and can be overlaid onto cross-sectionally derived population centiles. We demonstrate this by modelling rates of change for 24062 scans from 10795 healthy individuals with up to 8 longitudinal measurements across the lifespan. We provide a method to detect individual deviations from a stable trajectory, generalising the notion of thrive lines, which are used in pediatric medicine to declare failure to thrive. Using this approach, we predict transition from mild cognitive impairment to dementia more accurately than by using either time point alone, replicated across two datasets. Last, by taking into account multiple time points, we improve the sensitivity of velocity models for predicting the future trajectory of brain change. This highlights the value of predicting change over time and makes a fundamental step towards precision medicine.
title Charting the velocity of brain growth and development
topic Neurons and Cognition
Quantitative Methods
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07591