SynthesiseLife2021
The trajectory of cortical GABA across the lifespan, an individual participant data meta-analysis of edited MRS studies.
Synthesis in eLife, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- Developmental and aging trajectories of 40-Hz auditory steady-state responses: A systematic review across the human lifespan.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Neurometabolite differences in Autism as assessed with Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Diazepam modulates anterior cingulate glutamate levels in people at clinical high-risk for psychosis.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Primitive-Reflex Profiling After Sport-Related Concussion: An Athlete-Centered Framework for Testing a Candidate Behavioral State Marker.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Improved subjective sleep quality in older adults by enhancing the GABAergic system in the sensorimotor cortex.The Journal of physiology · 2026Article
- Structure-function coupling of large-scale cortical networks across the lifespan is spectrally specific.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Relating ADHD to the aperiodic component of the EEG signal in both males and females across development.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Revolutionizing Pediatric Neurophysiology With Magnetoencephalography.Psychophysiology · 2026Review
- Rapid modulation of choice behavior by ultrasound on the human frontal eye fields.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Hemisphere- and condition-specific alpha oscillations support semantic and spatial cognition in aging.GeroScience · 2026Article
- AI-enabled multimodal neuroimaging for neurotransmitter mapping in normal aging and age-related disease.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
- Age-dependent alterations in anterior cingulate excitation-inhibition balance in major depressive disorder revealed by 7-Tesla magnetic resonance spectroscopy.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Article
- Introducing the SAGE study: a multimodal protocol for testing a GABAergic mechanism of age-related episodic memory impairment across the sexes.BMJ neurology open · 2026Article
- Primitive reflexes as candidate quantitative readouts of hierarchical inhibitory control across the lifespan.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Neurochemical changes in GABA+, Glx, and the excitatory/inhibitory ratio in the calcarine cortex with healthy aging.NeuroImage · 2025Article
- The Development of Neural Inhibition across Species: Insights from the Hurst Exponent.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Relationships between GABA + and Glx concentrations with age and inhibition in healthy older adults.Brain structure & function · 2025Article
- Imaging markers of neuroinflammation in aging and Alzheimer's disease and related dementia: A comprehensive review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Review
- Local homeostasis preserves global neural dynamics compensating for structural loss during human lifespan aging.Communications biology · 2025Article
- GABA outperforms iron and neuromelanin in detecting nigrostriatal alterations in early-stage Parkinson's disease with RBD.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2025Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human brain and can be measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Conflicting accounts report decreases and increases in cortical GABA levels across the lifespan. This incompatibility may be an artifact of the size and age range of the samples utilized in these studies. No single study to date has included the entire lifespan. In this study, eight suitable datasets were integrated to generate a model of the trajectory of frontal GABA estimates (as reported through edited MRS; both expressed as ratios and in institutional units) across the lifespan. Data were fit using both a log-normal curve and a nonparametric spline as regression models using a multi-level Bayesian model utilizing the Stan language. Integrated data show that an asymmetric lifespan trajectory of frontal GABA measures involves an early period of increase, followed by a period of stability during early adulthood, with a gradual decrease during adulthood and aging that is described well by both spline and log-normal models. The information gained will provide a general framework to inform expectations of future studies based on the age of the population being studied.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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 OpenQuestion graph.