Charts map brain oxygen extraction across human life
An observational study of 2,025 healthy people aged 0–93 found an age-related rise in extraction that slowed and plateaued later in life.
Cohort study, multicenter
Limit: Vascular risk burden correlates with chart deviations and could distort age-based norms
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an observational study, researchers scanned 2,025 healthy individuals aged 0–93 years from 17 imaging sites. The rapid brain scans required no contrast dye. They measured oxygen extraction fraction, the share of oxygen the brain removes from its blood supply.
The resulting chart rose from the newborn period to middle adulthood, followed by a slower rise and a plateau later in life. The fastest change occurred during early development, with no significant sex differences. In healthy adults, departures from the chart were associated with the burden of risk factors affecting blood vessels. The researchers also applied the model to 885 patients. Higher-than-expected extraction appeared in several conditions, including dementia and mild cognitive impairment, a decline in thinking skills.
Why it matters
Oxygen extraction reflects the balance between the brain’s oxygen supply and demand. Age-based reference charts may help researchers study this balance in age-related disorders such as dementia.
Caveats
These observational comparisons cannot establish why oxygen extraction differed by age or disease. The findings come from a preprint that has not been peer-reviewed.
The paper
Oxygen extraction fraction brain charts for human lifespan and application for brain disorders
Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University; Capital Medical University
medRxiv, Jun 3, 2026, Open access, Preprint, not peer-reviewed
