Heterogeneity in normal aging: longitudinal trajectories of grey matter

In dementia research, the role of aging is usually de‐trended as a confounder, implying implicit assumptions on the nature of controls. In fact, normal aging brings about structural and functional damage, possibly reflecting brain resistance and resilience, unrelated to overt cognitive impairment (1). The aim of this exploratory study is to predict longitudinal trajectories of brain change in healthy elderly, based on their heterogeneous patterns at baseline, to uncover potentially lost information and link brain, cognitive and biological profiles. To our knowledge, it´s the first study investigating this in healthy aging.