Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • In Brief
  • Published:

Brain ageing

Last in, first out?

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 16, page 2 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

It has been proposed that the last parts of the brain to mature are the first to degenerate as we age. By analysing structural MRI data from 484 healthy participants aged from 8 to 85 years, Douaud et al. now provide direct evidence for this assertion. They reveal a network of brain regions that develop late in adolescence and degenerate first in old age. Furthermore, this network overlaps with those areas that are most vulnerable to changes in Alzheimer's disease or schizophrenia.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Douaud, G. et al. A common brain network links development, aging, and vulnerability to disease. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1410378111 (2014)

Download references

Authors
  1. Katherine Whalley
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Whalley, K. Last in, first out?. Nat Rev Neurosci 16, 2 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3890

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3890

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing