Overview

• The UC Irvine–led team applied a geometric method to adults aged 30 to 97 that tracks how overall brain form shifts with age rather than only measuring regional volume.
• A consistent pattern emerged in which inferior and anterior regions expand outward while superior and posterior regions compress inward.
• Greater posterior compression correlated with poorer reasoning performance, tying shape metrics to cognitive function.
• Authors propose a testable mechanical hypothesis that age-related shifts may push the entorhinal cortex toward the skull base, potentially contributing to early tau buildup in Alzheimer’s, though causation is unproven.
• The findings were replicated in two independent datasets and published Sept. 29 in Nature Communications, with support from the National Institute on Aging and collaboration with Universidad de La Laguna.