Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Computational Radiology and Artificial Intelligence, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Stine K Krogsrud
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Inge K Amlien
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Øystein Sørensen
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Yunpeng Wang
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Anne Cecilie S Bråthen
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Knut Overbye
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Jonas Kransberg
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Oslo, Norway
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Computational Radiology and Artificial Intelligence, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Human fetal development has been associated with brain health at later stages. It is unknown whether growth in utero, as indexed by birth weight (BW), relates consistently to lifespan brain characteristics and changes, and to what extent these influences are of a genetic or environmental nature. Here we show remarkably stable and lifelong positive associations between BW and cortical surface area and volume across and within developmental, aging and lifespan longitudinal samples (N = 5794, 4–82 y of age, w/386 monozygotic twins, followed for up to 8.3 y w/12,088 brain MRIs). In contrast, no consistent effect of BW on brain changes was observed. Partly environmental effects were indicated by analysis of twin BW discordance. In conclusion, the influence of prenatal growth on cortical topography is stable and reliable through the lifespan. This early-life factor appears to influence the brain by association of brain reserve, rather than brain maintenance. Thus, fetal influences appear omnipresent in the spacetime of the human brain throughout the human lifespan. Optimizing fetal growth may increase brain reserve for life, also in aging.
