Individual-level metabolic connectivity captures cortical morphology and their coupling strengthens in the ageing brain
Massimiliano Facca, Claudia Tarricone, Anna Ridolfo, Maurizio Corbetta, Andrei G. Vlassenko, Manu S. Goyal, Alessandra Bertoldo · 2026
Read Individual-level metabolic connectivity captures cortical morphology and their coupling strengthens in the ageing brain by Massimiliano Facca, Claudia Tarricone, Anna Ridolfo, Maurizio Corbetta, Andrei G. Vlassenko, Manu S. Goyal, Alessandra Bertoldo (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13525942.txt.
Description
Massimiliano Facca and colleagues asked whether brain energy networks mirror brain shape in healthy adults. Published in 2026, the study combined dynamic glucose PET scans with structural MRI in 67 adults aged thirty-eight to eighty-six. Individual metabolic connectivity maps were built from matching regional activity curves, then compared with shape-similarity maps of the cortex.
Metabolic links tracked shape similarity robustly, even after accounting for distance between regions, and the match held person by person. Coupling peaked in high-level association cortex and dipped in paralimbic areas, and it strengthened with age overall, most in visual, parietal, and premotor zones. The authors read rising alignment as fading energy flexibility in the aging brain. Readers get a network lens on how brain form and fuel use grow more yoked with age.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Massimiliano Facca, Claudia Tarricone, Anna Ridolfo, Maurizio Corbetta, Andrei G. Vlassenko, Manu S. Goyal, Alessandra Bertoldo |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 41 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |