The Human Connectome Project (HCP) has expanded from its original young-adult study into a family of lifespan datasets spanning prenatal development through late adulthood. All datasets use HCP-style acquisition and processing principles to provide a coherent, cross-age resource for studying human brain connectivity across development, maturation, and aging.
This repository provides curated, tractography-ready derived diffusion MRI datasets (FIB, QSDR, GQI, SRC when permitted, QC tables).
Raw MRI data are not hosted here and must be obtained through ConnectomeDB, NDA, or dHCP under each dataset’s data-use agreement.
The HCP Lifespan initiative aims to:
- Map connectivity trajectories from the prenatal period through 100+ years
- Maintain HCP-level acquisition quality using age-appropriate MRI protocols
- Enable cross-sectional and longitudinal modeling of brain development
- Support genetics, behavior, multimodal imaging, and lifespan integration
- Provide harmonized derivatives to accelerate reproducible neuroscience
This repository distributes DSI Studio–ready diffusion derivatives to reduce preprocessing load and standardize tractography workflows.
High-quality multishell diffusion MRI from healthy adults (ages 22–35).
Highlights
- Ages: 22–35
- Acquisition: b = 1000 / 2000 / 3000 s/mm² multishell
- Derivatives: SRC, GQI FIB, QSDR FIB, demographics
- License: WU-Minn HCP Open Access
- Source: https://www.humanconnectome.org/study/hcp-young-adult
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/hcp-ya | jq -r '.assets[].browser_download_url' | xargs -n1 -P4 curl -LO(Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/hcp-ya").assets | ForEach-Object { Invoke-WebRequest $_.browser_download_url -OutFile (Split-Path $_.browser_download_url -Leaf) }A scan–rescan subset of HCP-YA for reproducibility and reliability studies.
Highlights
- Same protocol as HCP-YA
- Designed for test–retest analysis, harmonization benchmarks
- Includes SRC, GQI, QSDR, QC
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/hcp-ya-retest | jq -r '.assets[].browser_download_url' | xargs -n1 -P4 curl -LO(Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/hcp-ya-retest").assets | ForEach-Object { Invoke-WebRequest $_.browser_download_url -OutFile (Split-Path $_.browser_download_url -Leaf) }Participants ages 5–21 scanned with HCP developmental protocols. Raw MRI data are under NDA restricted access; only derived files can be shared.
Highlights
- Ages: 5–21
- Large developmental cohort
- Derivatives: FIB, tractography, QC
- License (derived files here): CC BY-SA 4.0
- Raw data: NDA (DUA required)
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/hcp-d | jq -r '.assets[].browser_download_url' | xargs -n1 -P4 curl -LO(Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/hcp-d").assets | ForEach-Object { Invoke-WebRequest $_.browser_download_url -OutFile (Split-Path $_.browser_download_url -Leaf) }Adults ages 36–100+ scanned using protocols optimized for aging.
Highlights
- Ages: 36–100+
- Multimodal MRI
- Derivatives: FIB, tractography, QC
- License (derived files here): CC BY-SA 4.0
- Raw data: NDA
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/hcp-a | jq -r '.assets[].browser_download_url' | xargs -n1 -P4 curl -LO(Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/hcp-a").assets | ForEach-Object { Invoke-WebRequest $_.browser_download_url -OutFile (Split-Path $_.browser_download_url -Leaf) }Neonatal and preterm brain imaging, 20–44 weeks post-conception.
Highlights
- Ages: 20–44 weeks post-conception
- Modalities: T2-weighted, multishell dMRI
- Derivatives: hundreds of SRC and FIB datasets
- Additional scan–rescan subset: dHCP-Retest
- License: dHCP Data Sharing Agreement
- Source: dHCP Release 3
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/dhcp | jq -r '.assets[].browser_download_url' | xargs -n1 -P4 curl -LO(Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/dhcp").assets | ForEach-Object { Invoke-WebRequest $_.browser_download_url -OutFile (Split-Path $_.browser_download_url -Leaf) }curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/dhcp-retest | jq -r '.assets[].browser_download_url' | xargs -n1 -P4 curl -LO(Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/dhcp-retest").assets | ForEach-Object { Invoke-WebRequest $_.browser_download_url -OutFile (Split-Path $_.browser_download_url -Leaf) }Infancy through age 5, imaged using infant-optimized HCP-style protocols.
Highlights
- Ages: 0–5
- Longitudinal accelerated design
- Modalities: structural MRI, resting-state fMRI, dMRI
- Derivatives (when permitted): FIB, QC
- Raw data: BCP access portal
- License: BCP data-use agreement (DUA)
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/bcp | jq -r '.assets[].browser_download_url' | xargs -n1 -P4 curl -LO(Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.github.com/repos/data-hcp/lifespan/releases/tags/bcp").assets | ForEach-Object { Invoke-WebRequest $_.browser_download_url -OutFile (Split-Path $_.browser_download_url -Leaf) }Each dataset follows its source policy:
- HCP-YA: WU-Minn Open Access
- HCP-D / HCP-A: NDA-restricted (derived files here = CC BY-SA 4.0)
- dHCP / dHCP-Retest: dHCP Data Sharing Agreement
- BCP: BCP data-use agreement
Dataset folders include the appropriate license text where applicable.
When using these datasets:
- Cite the original HCP / Lifespan / dHCP / BCP publications and DOIs.
- Cite ConnectomeDB, NDA, dHCP, or BCP portals as required by their policies.
- If using derivatives from this repository, please add:
“Derived diffusion MRI datasets were prepared by the Pittsburgh Fiber Data Hub (
data-hcp/lifespan).”
- This repository does not contain raw MRI data.
- Users must comply with all original dataset regulations and data-use agreements.
- Derivatives aim to accelerate research but should still undergo independent QC and validation.