Forkel, Stephanie J.; Dulyan, Lilit; Schilling, Kurt; Thiebaut de Schotten, Michel. (2026).听.听Brain Structure and Function, 231(6), 83.听
Neurovariability聽refers to the natural differences in brain structure and function from one person to another. Rather than being viewed as random variation or “noise,” these differences are increasingly recognized as an important feature of human brain biology that supports adaptability, learning, resilience, and the wide range of abilities seen across individuals. This review summarizes the anatomical, functional, and evolutionary foundations of neurovariability, explores its role in both health and disease, and discusses current challenges in measuring it accurately. By viewing neurovariability as an emerging property of complex brain systems, the authors highlight its potential to advance聽personalized neuroscience鈥攁n approach that aims to better understand and treat individuals based on their unique brain characteristics.
Fig.听1
Schematic overview of different variability types. Intraindividual variability (a), interindividual variability (b), within-group variability (c), between-group variability (d), and across the lifespan (e) for the white matter (top, from birth until 75鈥�+鈥墆ears) and grey matter (bottom, from 29聽weeks of gestation to 70聽years of age). The lifespan variability for the white matter is shown as deformation to a population template in mm, where warmer colours indicate more variability and colder colours more similarity between individuals (modified from Schilling et al.听). Data are available from the developing and young adult Human Connectome Project ()