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. 2021 Aug 2;9:683138. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.683138

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Copyright © 2021 Scher.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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A hypothesized model of the origins and life course of brain aging. Several “critical periods” (prenatal period, childhood/adolescence, adulthood, and old age) are identified during which an individual is at greatest risk of damage if exposed to putative risk factors. Normal development of ICV and brain volumes (GM and WM) is presented for these critical periods, and the possible different risk factors influencing brain development throughout these periods are described. Allegedly, genetics and epigenetic influences could alter brain structure and function throughout life, but their impact would probably fade with age. In addition, the spectrum of age-related cognitive ability from birth to old age is presented in this figure, with a schematic view of our findings that small birth size is related to poor cognitive functioning only in those with lower educational levels (261).