Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41811501›Full record

ArticleBrain structure & function2026

Predicting brain volumes from anthropometric and demographic features: insights from UK biobank neuroimaging data.

Kimia Nazarzadeh, Simon B Eickhoff, Georgios Antonopoulos, Lukas Hensel, Caroline Tscherpel, Vera Komeyer, Federico Raimondo, Christian Grefkes, Kaustubh R Patil

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain structure & function, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Kimia NazarzadehDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. k.nazarzadeh@fz-juelich.de.
Simon B EickhoffInstitute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
Georgios AntonopoulosInstitute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
Lukas HenselDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Caroline TscherpelDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Vera KomeyerInstitute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
Federico RaimondoInstitute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
Christian GrefkesDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Kaustubh R PatilInstitute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany. k.patil@fz-juelich.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Brain size measures are well-studied and often treated as a confound in volumetric neuroimaging analyses. Yet their relationship with body anthropometric measures and demographics remains underexplored. In this study, we examined those relationships alongside age- and sex-related differences in global brain volumes. Using brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of healthy participants in the UK Biobank, we derived global measures of brain morphometry, including total intracranial volume (TIV), total brain volume (TBV), gray matter volume (GMV), white matter volume (WMV), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We extracted these measures using the Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT) and FreeSurfer. Our analyses were structured in three approaches: across-sex analysis, sex-specific analysis, and impact of age analysis. Employing machine learning (ML), we found that TIV was strongly predicted by sex (across-sex [Formula: see text] 0.68), reflecting sex difference. On the other hand, TBV, GMV, WMV, and CSF were more sensitive to age, with higher prediction accuracy when age was included as a feature, highlighting age-related changes in the brain structure, such as fluid expansion. Sex-specific models showed reduced TIV prediction ([Formula: see text] 0.25) but improved TBV accuracy ([Formula: see text] 0.44), underscoring sex-specific body-brain relationships. Anthropometric measures, particularly seated height and weight, improved prediction of TIV and TBV, while waist and hip circumference showed negative associations, though their effects generally remained secondary to age and sex. These findings advance our understanding of brain-body scaling relationships and underscore the necessity of accounting for age and sex in neuroimaging studies of brain morphology.

Indexed as

BrainAdultAgedAge FactorsAnthropometryBiological Specimen BanksFemaleGray MatterHumansMachine LearningMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNeuroimagingOrgan SizeSex CharacteristicsAnthropometricsBrain volumeMachine learningSex differenceStructural MRIUK Biobank

Identifiers

PMID41811501
PMCPMC12979296

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.