Summary: Researchers used AI to analyze brain images of people in their 70s, estimating their biological brain age and discovering links to lifestyle and health factors. Diabetes, inflammation, and high glucose levels were associated with an older-looking brain, while regular exercise and healthy habits were associated with a younger-looking brain.
The study highlights the importance of maintaining vascular health to protect cognitive resilience against aging. The researchers aim to refine the AI tool for clinical use and will explore gender differences and social health influences on brain resilience in future studies.
Key facts:
- Older-looking brains: Diseases such as diabetes, stroke and inflammation were associated with brains appearing biologically older.
- Younger-looking brains: Healthy lifestyles, including regular physical activity, are correlated with a more youthful brain appearance.
- Potential of AI: An AI tool provided robust estimates of biological brain age, potentially useful in future clinical assessments of dementia.
Source: Karolinska Institute
Using an AI tool, researchers from Karolinska Institutet analyzed brain images of 70-year-old people and estimated the biological age of their brains.
They found that factors detrimental to vascular health, such as inflammation and high glucose levels, are associated with an older-looking brain, while a healthy lifestyle was associated with a younger-looking brain. younger appearance.
The results are presented in Alzheimer and dementia: the journal of the Alzheimer’s association.
Every year, more than 20,000 people in Sweden develop some form of dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease accounting for around two-thirds of cases. However, the rate at which the brain ages is affected by various risk and health factors.
“Despite the recent introduction of new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, they will not work for everyone with dementia, so we want to study what can strengthen the brain’s resilience to the disease processes of aging,” says Anna Marseglia, researcher in the Department of Neurobiology, lead author of the study. Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.
The age of the AI-derived brain
The study involved 739 people aged 70 in good cognitive health, including 389 women, recruited from the H70 cohort in Gothenburg, Sweden. The researchers took MRI scans of their brains, then estimated the age of the resulting brain images using their own AI-based algorithm.
“The algorithm is both precise and robust, yet easy to use,” explains lead researcher Eric Westman, professor of neurogeriatrics in the same department. “It is a research tool that still requires further evaluation, but our goal is that it will also be used clinically in the future, for example in dementia investigations.”
The brain images were supplemented with blood samples to measure lipids, glucose and inflammation. Participants also completed cognitive tests. Data on lifestyle factors such as exercise and health conditions were also available.
Brains look older
The AI tool estimated that the brain age of both sexes was 71 years on average. The researchers then examined the “brain age gap” by subtracting participants’ estimated biological brain age from their chronological age.
Researchers found that diabetes, stroke, small vessel diseases in the brain and inflammation were linked to older-looking brains, while a healthy lifestyle involving regular physical activity could be linked to younger-looking brains.
“The takeaway from the study is that factors that negatively affect blood vessels may also be linked to an older-looking brain, showing how important it is to keep your vessels healthy blood levels, to protect your brain, for example by ensuring that your blood sugar levels remain stable,” explains Anna Marseglia.
Studies on gender differences next
Women’s and men’s brains appear to differ in terms of factors related to older and younger-looking brains, meaning that women and men may differ in how they develop resilience, a phenomenon that Researchers now plan to study examining not only biological determinants such as hormones but also sociocultural influences.
“Next year, we will launch a study to understand how social health – including social engagement, connectedness and support – in middle and older age, as well as sleep and stress, influence brain resilience , with emphasis on women’s health factors. said Anna Marseglia.
Funding: The study was mainly funded by grants from the Center for Innovative Medicine, Forte, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Brain Foundation, the Swedish Alzheimer’s Foundation, the Swedish Dementia Foundations, from the David and Astrid Hagelén Foundation, StratNeuro and the Foundation for Geriatric Diseases. at the Karolinska Institutet, the Loo and Hans Osterman Foundation for Medical Research, the Gamla Tjänarinnor Foundation and the Collaboratory on Research Definitions for Reserve and Resilience in Cognitive Aging and Dementia.
No Karolinska Institutet researchers reported conflicts of interest, while co-author Silke Kern declared ties to Roche, Geras Solutions, Optoceutics, Eli Lilly, Biogen and Bioarctic.
About this research news on AI and brain aging
Author: Press office
Source: Karolinska Institute
Contact: Press office – Karolinska Institute
Picture: Image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Free access.
“Biological brain age and resilience in cognitively healthy 70-year-old individuals» by Anna Marseglia et al. Alzheimer’s and dementia
Abstract
Biological brain age and resilience in cognitively healthy 70-year-old individuals
INTRODUCTION
This study examined associations between brain age gap (BAG) – a biological marker of brain resilience – with lifetime exposures, neuroimaging measures, biological processes and cognitive function.
METHODS
We derived BAG by subtracting predicted brain age from chronological age in 739 septuagenarians without dementia or neurological disorders. Robust linear regression models assessed associations of BAG with lifetime exposures, plasma inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers, magnetic resonance imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of neurodegeneration and vascular brain injury, as well as cognitive performance.
RESULTS
Greater BAG (older-looking brain) was associated with physical inactivity, diabetes, and stroke, while prediabetes was linked to lower BAG, i.e. d younger appearance. Physical activity attenuated the association between obesity and BAG. Greater BAG was associated with greater burden of small vessel disease, white matter alterations, inflammation, elevated blood glucose, and poorer vascular cognitive domains. Sex-specific associations were identified.
DISCUSSION
Lifestyles and health related to vascular functions shape the appearance of the brain. Inflammation and insulin-related processes may be critical to understanding vascular cognitive disorders.