Regional brain aging patterns reveal disease-specific pathways of neurodegeneration.

ABSTRACT: The heterogeneity of brain aging is a hallmark of neurological and psychiatric disorders, yet machine-learning tools used to characterize this process, including the 'brain age' paradigm, have largely relied on global metrics that lack the specificity to map these complex patterns. Here, we introduce BrainAgeMap, an interpretable deep learning framework that generates fine-grained, voxel-wise maps of brain-predicted age difference (brain-PAD) from T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans. We provide converging lines of evidence for the framework's clinical, prognostic, and neurobiological utility. Disorder-specific topographies of accelerated aging were identified in Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia, and schizophrenia. Longitudinal analysis of the hippocampus revealed

SUBMITTER: Vakli P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12642744 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature