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Results for “lifespan trajectory”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Cognition through the lifespan: mechanisms of change.

Cognitive abilities rise steeply from infancy to young adulthood and then are either maintained or decline to old age, depending on the specific ability. This pattern suggests corresponding continuities of mechanism and process, but it is striking that the fields of cognitive development and cognitive aging make little contact with each other's methods and theories. In this review we examine reasons for this cultural separation, and show how recent findings from both areas fit a framework couched in terms of cognitive representation and control. These two broad factors have very different lifespan trajectories; consideration of their relative growth and decline makes it clear that cognitive aging is not simply 'development in reverse'. This framework is offered in light of recent interest in finding greater continuity throughout the lifespan and creating a more comprehensive explanation of cognitive function and cognitive change.

Aging↗

PubMed2005

Neurocognitive impairment across the lifespan in schizophrenia: an update.

A literature review and power analysis of longitudinal studies published since 1997 investigating the trajectory of neurocognitive deficits across time in patients with schizophrenia was conducted. Ten studies were identified, evaluating a total of 834 patients with mean ages of 24.0-77.8 years at study entry. Power estimates for the 10 studies ranged widely from 0.26 to 0.99 for a medium effect size of 0.4. Despite wide inter-study differences in cognitive measures selected, sample size and phase of illness studied, several consistent themes emerged. Studies of primarily community-dwelling outpatients with schizophrenia revealed that overall measures of IQ and gross cognitive status do not show deterioration greater than that associated with benign aging. Furthermore, performance on specific measures of neurocognition was remarkably consistent across ages studied. Indeed, there is some evidence that IQ, as well as other neurocognitive measures, may show improvement over a 5-year test-retest interval. Findings were consistent whether patients were in their first episode of illness or chronic. These results support a static "encephalopathy" model of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. In contrast, studies of middle-aged and elderly institutionalized patients with schizophrenia have revealed markedly different findings. There is evidence in this population of a decline in gross measures of cognitive status even over a brief 2.5-year test-retest interval in patients 65 or older that may, in some cases, be linked to the emergence of orofacial dyskinesia. Taken together, these studies suggest two distinct neurocognitive trajectories during the lifespan in patients with schizophrenia that may represent manifestations of distinct pathophysiological mechanisms of the illness during different phases of the disease.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

The rise and decline of prospective memory performance across the lifespan.

In the present study, the trajectory of prospective memory across the lifespan was investigated in a total of 200 participants from five age groups (4- to 6-year-old children, 13- to 14-year-old adolescents, 19- to 26-year-old adults, 55- to 65-year-old adults, and 65- to 75-year-old adults). In an event-based prospective memory task the prospective and the retrospective components were assessed separately. For the prospective component, the results showed better performance for adolescents and young adults than for children and 65- to 75-year-old adults. In addition, participants belonging to the latter group were more likely to forget the retrospective component after having noticed the prospective memory targets. Overall, these results indicate that across the lifespan prospective memory performance follows a similar inverted u-shape function as is well known for retrospective episodic memory.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2025

The relationship between vitamin D levels and depression: a genetically informed study.

BACKGROUND: Low vitamin D (vitD) levels are consistently associated with an increased risk of depression. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this relationship and potential shared genetic overlap remain elusive. METHODS: We investigated the genetic overlap and causal relationships between depression (N = 589,356) and vitD levels (N = 417,580) using genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics. We performed genome-wide and local genetic correlation analyses, followed by quantification of polygenic overlap variants. Shared genetic loci were identified and mapped to genes, which were further analyzed through gene expression and lifespan brain expression trajectory analyses. Bidirectional causal relationships were examined using multiple Mendelian randomization approaches. RESULTS: We observed significant negative genetic correlations (rg = -0.079) and identified genetic overlap (N = 410 variants). Genes mapped to the 13 shared loci showed opposing expression patterns. Tissue- and cell-specific functional enrichment analyses revealed significant signals related to brain development, with distinct patterns emerging between fetal development and adulthood. Shared genes (TRMT61A, ITIH4, RASGRP1, CTNND1, HERC1, IP6K1, FURIN ESR1, ZMYND and GRM5) exhibited notable expression variation in the brian throughout the lifespan, aligning with functional enrichment findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings elucidate the shared biological mechanisms underlying the relationship between vitD and depression, suggesting that vitD play an important role in the development of depression through altered early neurodevelopmental processes.

Humans↗

PubMed2004

What are the costs of marital conflict and dissolution to children's physical health?

Do parental marital conflict and dissolution influence the risk trajectory of children's physical health risk? This paper reviews evidence addressing this question in the context of understanding how early environmental adversities may trigger a succession of risks that lead to poor health in childhood and greater risk for chronic health problems in adulthood. We first review existing evidence linking marital conflict and dissolution to offspring's physical health outcomes. Next, we provide evidence supporting biopsychosocial pathways that may link marital conflict and dissolution with accelerated health risk trajectories across the lifespan. Specifically, we posit that consequential to the stresses associated with marital conflict and disruption, parenting practices are compromised, leading to offspring deficits in affective, behavioral, and cognitive domains. These deficits, in turn, are hypothesized to increase health risk through poor health behaviors and by altering physiological stress-response systems, including neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and neurotransmitter functioning. On the basis of the available direct evidence and theoretically plausible pathways, it appears that there is a cost of marital conflict and disruption to children's health; however, more comprehensive investigations are needed to further elucidate this relationship. In the final section, we address limitations in the current literature and identify research that is needed to better evaluate the association between marital conflict and dissolution and children's physical health.

Child↗

PubMed2005

Dietary restriction, mortality trajectories, risk and damage.

Restriction of food intake extends lifespan in evolutionarily diverse organisms, including mammals. Dietary restriction (DR) also delays the appearance of ageing-related damage and pathology and keeps organisms in a youthful state for longer. DR has hence been suggested to lower the rate of ageing. Analysis of mortality rates can be used to test this idea. During ageing, mortality rates in general increase, approximately exponentially. Lifespan can be extended either by a reduction in the rate of increase in mortality rate with age or a lowering of the initial rate of mortality. A reduction in the slope of a mortality trajectory has generally been taken to indicate that the rate of ageing has been lowered. Data on the effects of temperature on mortality in Drosophila are in accordance with this idea. Lowered temperature extends lifespan solely by lowering the slope of the mortality trajectory and flies with a hotter thermal history have permanently elevated death rates. In contrast, lowering of the initial rate of mortality has been taken to leave the rate of ageing unaffected. In Drosophila and in mice, but not in rats, DR extends lifespan by lowering the initial mortality rate. In Drosophila, the effect of DR is acute, and mortality rate switches rapidly between DR and control values with the corresponding changes in nutritional regime. DR in Drosophila therefore has no impact upon the rate of ageing. Possible mechanisms by which DR can both delay damage and pathology and yet act acutely to determine mortality rates are discussed. In rodents, some phenotypes associated with DR, including microarray profiles, show rapid switching with changed nutritional regime, pointing to potentially acute effects of DR in mammals.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Female post-reproductive lifespan: a general mammalian trait.

Traditional explanations for the evolution of menopause and post-reproductive lifespan in human females have been based on the benefits of maternal or grand-maternal care outweighing the cost of lost reproduction. These explanations assume an evolutionary origin of menopause since human divergence with the most recent common ancestor. In this study, I conduct a literature survey of studies of 42 mammal species from eight orders, showing that post-reproductive lifespan appears to be widespread among mammals. I then propose an alternative to traditional hypotheses: following accepted theories of trade-offs and senescence, I suggest that the cost of extending reproductive lifespan might be relatively high in female mammals. Somatic and reproductive senescence appear to follow separate trajectories, so it is not surprising that the two processes should occur on different schedules. The timing of each process is probably determined by maximization of reproductive performance and survival early in adulthood, with consequent trajectories resulting in a post-reproductive lifespan. The early end of reproduction relative to lifespan may be due to the cost of production and/or maintenance of oocytes, which decline exponentially over time. Oocyte number below a threshold may trigger an end to normal hormonal cycling.

Aging↗

PubMed2026

Sex-specific differences in liver DNA methylation patterns and epigenetic aging in mice.

Biological sex has been shown to influence aging outcomes, contributing to distinct trajectories in disease susceptibility and lifespan. DNA methylation patterns provide a quantitative measure of biological aging. This study investigated whether aged male and female mice display distinct liver DNA methylation patterns and differences in epigenetic aging. Liver samples were collected from 17 aged c57BL/6 mice (6 males, 11 females). Genomic DNA was extracted and bisulfite-converted before targeted enrichment of 2,045 murine age-associated CpG loci. Biological age (DNAge) was estimated using a previously developed DNA methylation-based predictor generated through elastic net regression. The difference (ΔDNAge) between DNAge and chronological age was computed. Sex-specific differences were assessed by comparing site-specific methylation ratios, ΔDNAge values, and through principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression. Twelve CpG sites across six genes (Fam84b, Zswim6, Hsf4, Mn1, Qprt, and Rapgefl1) showed significant sex-associated differences in methylation. Fam84b demonstrated the largest and most consistent sex-associated effect, with all three associated CpG sites showing higher methylation in males (regression coefficients: -0.204, -0.281, and -0.294). Zswim6 exhibited consistent lower methylation ratios in females, whereas the other genes showed higher methylation in females. There were no sex differences in biological age or ΔDNAge (P = 0.596). Although the epigenetic clock did not reveal differences between sexes in aging, aged mice did exhibit sex-specific liver methylation patterns different from those reported in younger mice, suggesting that sex-dependent epigenetic changes may emerge later in life and may reflect sexual dimorphism in liver function with age.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Males and females are known to age differently and develop certain diseases at different rates. Here, we examined the livers of aged male and female mice to see if they show different DNA methylation patterns. We found that aged male and female mice had distinct DNA methylation patterns at specific genes. Interestingly, most of these methylation differences were not present in younger mice, suggesting that sex differences in the genome may change with age.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Extremely short lifespan in the annual fish Nothobranchius furzeri.

Evolutionary theories of senescence postulate that lifespan is determined by the age-dependent decrease in the effects of natural selection. Factors that influence survival and reproduction at early life stages have a larger impact on fitness than factors that influence later life stages. According to these views, selection for rapid sexual maturation and a steep age-dependent decrease in fitness drive the evolution of short lifespans. Here, we report on the survival trajectory of Nothobranchius furzeri (Pisces: Ciprinodontidae): a member of a group of annual species found in temporary bodies of water whose life expectancy in the wild is limited to a few months. We find that maximum survival of N. furzeri in the laboratory is less than 12 weeks. The temporal trajectory of survival shows an age-dependent increase in the mortality rate that is typical of organisms with defined lifespans. The lifespan of N. furzeri is exceptionally short for a vertebrate: owing to its small size and the possibility of propagation in captivity, N. furzeri could be used as a convenient model for ageing research.

Adaptation, Biological↗

PubMed1994

Biological aspects of menopause: across the lifespan.

"This review outlines the biological basics of menopause and then places menopause within the context of a dynamic lifespan. The basic tenets of the lifespan approach maintain that, for each individual, aging and development are lifelong processes from birth to death; biological, psychological, and sociocultural trajectories interweave across the life course; the entire lifespan serves as a frame of reference for understanding particular events or transitions; and the life course can be affected by environmental change.... This review also points to the gap between population-level studies of menopause and studies carried out at the biochemical, cellular, or organ systems level. Filling this gap...offers the most interesting directions for future anthropological research."

Aging↗

PubMed2026

Personalized functional topography-based multisite brain age prediction modeling reveals divergent neurodevelopment in major depression.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with widespread alterations in functional brain networks across the lifespan. However, heterogeneity in atypical brain development among patients with MDD remains largely uncharacterized. Using a multisite resting-state functional MRI dataset consisting of 1,105 MDD patients and 1,065 healthy controls, we constructed a harmonized multicenter brain age prediction model based on individualized functional topography and identified two patient subgroups with positive or negative brain age gaps (BAGs). In patients with a positive BAG (BAG+), expansion of the salience network (SAL) into the dorsolateral prefrontal and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices, in addition to contraction of the sensorimotor and dorsal attention networks (DAN), contributes to accelerated brain aging. Conversely, in the negative BAG (BAG-) group, SAL expansion into the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and contraction of the visual and sensorimotor networks (SMN) were linked to delayed brain development. These subgroups also exhibited distinct neurodevelopmental trajectories. Clinically, BAG+ patients showed stronger associations between higher-order network topography and mood symptoms, whereas BAG- patients exhibited links between visual/default mode network topography and insomnia. At the molecular level, both groups showed enrichment of genes related to synaptic signaling but displayed distinct expression patterns and divergent expression trajectories in key neurodevelopmental gene sets. Notably, antidepressant treatment modulated the brain in ways that were specific to each subgroup. These findings reveal heterogeneous neurodevelopmental profiles in MDD with distinct biological and clinical signatures, offering insights into personalized precision medicine for this disorder.

Humans↗

PubMed2004

Biologic perspective on early erotic development.

Neurobiologic researchers can understand children's sexuality in less moral and more biologic terms. Genetically programmed levels of neurotransmitters and hormones establish a baseline trajectory of erotic interest and activity across the lifespan. Environmental influences also contribute. Intense early stimulation can affect the brain and create a condition of hyper eroticism, whereas too little stimulation can limit the ability to bond and impair the sexual response. Children who are erotically challenged or challenging are viewed correctly as having a brain imbalance, rather than as victims or as being morally deficient. This should pave the way for more humane, objective, and effective interventions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2026

Nutrition and longevity - diet in centenarians.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition plays a central role in the biological mechanisms that shape aging, health span, and longevity. Micronutrients—including vitamins, trace elements, and polyphenols—support genomic stability, mitochondrial integrity, and antioxidant defense, while dietary patterns rich in plant-based foods modulate inflammation, metabolic regulation, and epigenetic processes. Centenarian populations consuming Mediterranean, Okinawan, Nordic, and Nicoyan diets offer a natural model for understanding how nutrient-rich, minimally processed foods, moderate caloric intake, and balanced lifestyles interact with molecular pathways to extend functional life. MAIN BODY: This review synthesizes current evidence on how micronutrients influence DNA repair, oxidative stress reduction, and mitochondrial protection, particularly through the actions of vitamins C and E, niacin-dependent PARP activity, folate-mediated methylation, and metal cofactors involved in antioxidant enzymes. Plant-based diets rich in fiber and polyphenols enhance microbial diversity and promote beneficial taxa such as Akkermansia and Bifidobacterium, supporting gut barrier integrity and immune balance. Caloric restriction and intermittent fasting activate nutrient-sensing pathways, including AMPK and sirtuins, reduce mTOR activity, and stimulate autophagy, collectively improving cellular resilience. Findings from centenarian regions highlight the convergence of lifestyle, nutrition, and cultural practices that reduce systemic inflammation, maintain metabolic flexibility, and support healthy aging trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: Diet emerges as a decisive modifiable determinant of lifespan and health span. The convergence of molecular nutrition, microbiome composition, and traditional dietary habits underlies the exceptional longevity observed in centenarian populations. Future research should integrate nutrigenomics, metabolomics, and microbiome profiling to clarify causal mechanisms and guide precision nutrition strategies for aging societies.

Humans↗

PubMed2001

ADHD, aggression, and antisocial behavior across the lifespan. Interactions with neurochemical and cognitive function.

The progression to adult antisocial behavior is the least desirable developmental trajectory for children with ADHD. An unremitting pattern of physical aggression appears of great import when predicting long-term outcome. However, a profile characterized by behavioral and cognitive impulsivity and emotional lability may indicate a greater likelihood of the progression to adult antisocial behavior and violent impulse-control disorders. This constellation of behaviors appears to be, at least in part, mediated by brain serotonergic systems. The contribution of cognitive impairments, as manifested by executive function deficits, diminished moral reasoning, and impaired empathic ability, to the emergence and persistence of antisocial behavior has yet to be discerned.

Aggression↗

PubMed2005

Intergenerational transfers may have decoupled physiological and chronological age in a eusocial insect.

Life-history theory generally predicts that there should be no selection for longevity beyond the limit of reproductive capacity. However, the capacity to increase fitness may not end when individuals reach a state of functional sterility. Recent studies show that intergenerational transfers of resources from post-reproductive parents can increase the offspring's fitness, and analytical theory shows that age-trajectories of transfers may shape the course of senescence in social organisms. In eusocial insects, female roles are partitioned so that one phenotype or "caste" reproduces while another is responsible for resource transfers: the reproductive "queens" are arrested in a continuous reproductive mode, while transfer-activities such as hygienic behaviors, guarding, foraging and further food processing ("nursing") that increases the nutritional value of provisions are conducted by sterile "workers". Worker honey bees normally perform these tasks in a sequence so that nursing inside the protected nest is conducted prior to more risky exterior hive activities such as guarding and foraging. However, foragers may revert to nurse-activity in response to demographic changes, and worker bees can also develop into a stress resistant survival form with a 10-fold increase in lifespan. This elastic division of parental functions is believed to increase colony fitness. Further, it generates a stage-dependent trajectory of senescence that is difficult to address with established theories of aging. In the following, we show how a recent theory that includes resource transfers can be used to elucidate patterns of senescence in eusocial, non-reproducing individuals like the honey bee worker.

Aging↗

PubMed1991

Shaping the course of a marathon: using the Trajectory Framework for diabetes mellitus.

Persons with either insulin-dependent or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus live with a chronic illness that can have both acute and long-term complications. The therapeutic regimen for glycemic control in diabetes is often complex and is lifelong; it requires special knowledge and skills for both patients and health care providers. In this article, the Corbin and Strauss trajectory framework for chronic illness management is clinically applied to the planning of patient care in two case studies of persons with diabetes. The benefits of using the trajectory framework as a model for care in diabetes include: introduction of the concepts of "locating" the patient on the trajectory and assessing the trajectory projection for both patient and provider, and a more realistic evaluation of incremental change in chronic illness. Two possible barriers to clinical application of the framework for diabetes management are: difficulty in translating the framework for clinical use, and some terminology in the framework that does not seem to describe reimbursable care. The trajectory framework provides a necessary shift in focus to quality of life issues in diabetes management over the lifespan.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Risk factors for schizophrenia. Follow-up data from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study.

This paper updates single risk factors identified by the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study up to the end of year 2001 or age 34. Impaired performance (e.g., delayed motor or intellectual development) or adverse exposures (e.g., pregnancy and birth complications, central nervous system diseases) are associated with an increased risk for schizophrenia. However, upper social class girls and clever schoolboys also have an increased risk to develop schizophrenia, contrasted to their peers. Individuals who subsequently develop schizophrenia follow a developmental trajectory that partly and subtly differs from that of the general population; this trajectory lacks flexibility and responsiveness compared to control subjects, at least in the early stages. We propose a descriptive, lifespan, multilevel systems model on the development and course of schizophrenia.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2026

dGAMLSS: an exact, distributed algorithm to fit Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape for privacy-preserving population reference charts.

MOTIVATION: There is growing interest in estimating population reference ranges across age and sex to better identify atypical clinically-relevant measurements throughout the lifespan. For this task, the World Health Organization recommends using Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape (GAMLSS), which can model non-linear growth trajectories under complex distributions that address the heterogeneity in human populations.Fitting GAMLSS models requires large, generalizable sample sizes, especially for accurate estimation of extreme quantiles, but obtaining such multi-site data can be challenging due to privacy concerns and practical considerations. In settings where patient data cannot be shared, privacy-preserving distributed algorithms for federated learning can be used, but no such algorithm exists for GAMLSS. RESULTS: We propose distributed GAMLSS (dGAMLSS), a distributed algorithm that can fit GAMLSS models across multiple sites without sharing patient-level data. This includes specific considerations for the fitting of smooth functions at varying levels of communication efficiency. We demonstrate the effectiveness of dGAMLSS in constructing population reference charts across clinical, genomics, and neuroimaging settings and show that dGAMLSS is able to reproduce pooled reference charts and inference down to numerical differences. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: An R package providing examples of the dGAMLSS algorithm, as well as functions for sharing and aggregating site-specific parameters, is available at https://github.com/hufengling/dGAMLSS.

Algorithms↗