Growth charts reveal how the brain’s ‘communication highways’ change throughout life

Nature, Published online: 13 May 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01318-w

Studies of white matter — the tissue used for communication between brain regions — have revealed substantial changes in people with neurological diseases and disorders. The creation of white-matter brain charts enables individual deviations from the typical structure to be assessed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans.