Human brain white matter charts in international populations
- 1State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Cognitive Intelligence for Eld
Abstract
Brain charts provide normative references for identifying neurodevelopmental milestones and clinically meaningful deviations. Existing white matter (WM) charts are derived predominantly from European and North American populations, limiting generalizability. Here, we established the first set of population-specific WM charts of 198 morphological and microstructural phenotypes for both Chinese (N=19,215) and Western (N=15,584) populations across the human lifespan. Developmental trajectories and spatial organization of WM maturation and degeneration were broadly conserved across the populations, whereas maturational timing varied across pathways and metrics. The Chinese population showed earlier maturation in several projection and sensorimotor pathways, but more protracted maturation in higher-order association and limbic pathways. Chinese population-matched charts more accurately predicted WM phenotypes and detected more extreme disease-related deviations in brain health in the Chinese population than Western-derived models. Individual deviation patterns further discriminated patients from healthy controls and predicted cognitive performance and plasma biomarkers. Our findings reveal population-specific WM maturation and show that reference-population mismatch can reduce the accuracy and clinical sensitivity of normative brain charts.
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BibTeX
@misc{huo2026human,
title = {{Human brain white matter charts in international populations}},
author = {Y. Huo and C. Zhang and F. Ren and T. Han and Y. Gao and J. Wang and J. Ding and L. Le and P. Ou and T. Bai and M. Shen and G. Feng and T. Huang and X. Li and Y. Chen and R. Jing and L. Liu and S. Tao and W. Huang and J. Cheng and L. Su and B. Zhang and Y. Xu and G.-J. Ji and Y. Sun and Q. Cao and Y. Han and G. Ma and Y. He and X.-N. Zuo and Y. Liu and Q. Dong and Z. Zhang and N. Shu},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.18.760003},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.18.760003v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Human brain white matter charts in international populations
AU - Y. Huo
AU - C. Zhang
AU - F. Ren
AU - T. Han
AU - Y. Gao
AU - J. Wang
AU - J. Ding
AU - L. Le
AU - P. Ou
AU - T. Bai
AU - M. Shen
AU - G. Feng
AU - T. Huang
AU - X. Li
AU - Y. Chen
AU - R. Jing
AU - L. Liu
AU - S. Tao
AU - W. Huang
AU - J. Cheng
AU - L. Su
AU - B. Zhang
AU - Y. Xu
AU - G.-J. Ji
AU - Y. Sun
AU - Q. Cao
AU - Y. Han
AU - G. Ma
AU - Y. He
AU - X.-N. Zuo
AU - Y. Liu
AU - Q. Dong
AU - Z. Zhang
AU - N. Shu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/18
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.18.760003
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.18.760003v1
AB - Brain charts provide normative references for identifying neurodevelopmental milestones and clinically meaningful deviations. Existing white matter (WM) charts are derived predominantly from European and North American populations, limiting generalizability. Here, we established the first set of population-specific WM charts of 198 morphological and microstructural phenotypes for both Chinese (N=19,215) and Western (N=15,584) populations across the human lifespan. Developmental trajectories and spatial organization of WM maturation and degeneration were broadly conserved across the populations, whereas maturational timing varied across pathways and metrics. The Chinese population showed earlier maturation in several projection and sensorimotor pathways, but more protracted maturation in higher-order association and limbic pathways. Chinese population-matched charts more accurately predicted WM phenotypes and detected more extreme disease-related deviations in brain health in the Chinese population than Western-derived models. Individual deviation patterns further discriminated patients from healthy controls and predicted cognitive performance and plasma biomarkers. Our findings reveal population-specific WM maturation and show that reference-population mismatch can reduce the accuracy and clinical sensitivity of normative brain charts.
ER -