# Longitudinal changes in brain asymmetry track lifestyle and disease

## TL;DR

Brain asymmetry changes over time and is linked to lifestyle and disease, suggesting it is not fixed in adulthood.

## Contribution

The study shows brain asymmetry is dynamic and influenced by lifestyle and disease, challenging the assumption of its stability.

## Key findings

- Brain asymmetry changes continuously, indicating neural plasticity.
- Changes in brain asymmetry are robustly associated with 959 phenotypic variables.
- Brain asymmetry changes correlate with lifestyle markers and major disease categories.

## Abstract

Human beings may have evolved the largest asymmetries of brain organization in the animal kingdom. Hemispheric left-vs-right specialization is especially pronounced in our species-unique capacities. Yet, brain asymmetry features appear to be strongly shaped by non-genetic influences. We hence charted the largest longitudinal brain-imaging adult resource, yielding evidence that brain asymmetry changes continuously in a manner suggestive of neural plasticity. In the UK Biobank population cohort, we demonstrate that asymmetry changes show robust associations across 959 distinct phenotypic variables spanning 11 categories. We also find that changes in brain asymmetry over years co-occur with changes among specific lifestyle markers. Finally, we reveal relevance of brain asymmetry changes to major disease categories across thousands of medical diagnoses. Our results challenge the tacit assumption that asymmetrical neural systems are highly conserved throughout adulthood.