{
  "abstract": "The brainstem is vulnerable to aging and prodromal synucleinopathy, yet whether these processes disrupt shared or distinct functional pathways linking the brainstem to the cortex remains unknown. Using high-resolution 7-Tesla fMRI, we mapped connectivity between 58 brainstem nuclei and cortical regions in young adults, older adults and individuals with isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD), a prodromal synucleinopathy. Long-range brainstem-cortical connectivity weakened with aging and further in iRBD. However, the two conditions affected distinct systems: aging involved arousal- and cognition-related nuclei and association cortex, whereas iRBD involved sleep- and autonomic-related nuclei and extended to sensory-motor cortex. These alterations were associated with distinct neurophysiological, metabolic and neurotransmitter architectures and spatial transcriptomic signatures. Brainstem-cortical connectivity also followed the cortical unimodal-transmodal hierarchy, with reduced differentiation in aging. Independent 3-Tesla data reproduced the broader connectivity patterns. Together, our findings reveal shared and distinct multiscale patterns of brainstem pathway vulnerability in aging and prodromal synucleinopathy.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Lin Hua",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6878-2174"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kavita Singh",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4772-372X"
    },
    {
      "name": "Maria Guadalupe Garcia-Gomar"
    },
    {
      "name": "Firdaus Fabrice Hannanu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Simone Cauzzo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Subhranil Koley"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambra Stefani"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stephan Grimaldi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Aleksandar Videnovic"
    },
    {
      "name": "Marta Bianciardi"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fsmtxgxky9smt.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.27.760186",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.27.760186v1.full",
  "id": "fsmtxgxky9smt",
  "issns": [
    "2692-8205"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.27.760186v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Functional Brain Connectivity Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224085057",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.27.760186v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13733978",
  "pmid": "42990462",
  "published": "2026-10-27",
  "publisher": "Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Preprints",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fsmtxgxky9smt.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:30:02Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.27.760186",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.27.760186v1"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-08T12:23:38Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13733978",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.27.760186"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Charting vulnerability of brainstem functional pathways in aging and prodromal synucleinopathy",
  "title_text": "Charting vulnerability of brainstem functional pathways in aging and prodromal synucleinopathy",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:23:38Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fsmtxgxky9smt",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}