A new “clock” keeps track of the rhythm of aging by measuring the thickness of the cortex and the volume of the gray matter in the MRI scans.
A new system that reads how the key characteristics of the brain change over time can tell us how quickly we are getting olderand how quickly our cognitive functions worsen. The method, described on Nature Agingis based on the analysis of the brain scans obtained with magnetic resonance imaging, and it seems to be able to provide indications on those who are more at risk of developing forms of dementia.
Aging: the brain tells
The registry age is not always indicative of biological aging, which is influenced by factors such as genetics, environmental conditions and diseases that you suffer. To measure the biological age, several tests based on various biomarkers, specific molecules traceable in the blood have been developed over time. But Ethan Whitman, scientist expert in brain aging Duke University of Durham, North Carolina, tried to create a method for monitor brain aging with greater precision and relate it with the aging of the body in general.
The scientist and colleagues have drawn the data of a study on over a thousand people born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between 1972 and 1973, and periodically subjected within two decades, from 26 to 45 years, to evaluations on aging through the measure of 19 biomarkers (cardiovascular, metabolic, kidney, immune, dental and lung function). The most recent assessments included brain scans.
The researchers 860 cerebral scans have been given to an algorithm And they asked him to trace correlations between the data of brain magnetic resonances and the rhythm of aging deduced by all the other studied biomarkers (cardiovascular, metabolic and immune aging). In scans, parameters have been analyzed like The thickness of the cerebral cortexthe most recent and evolved layer of the brain responsible for cognitive functions such as speaking or memorizing, and the volume of gray matter (the fabric consisting of neuron bodies) that it contained.
Accelerated aging and dementia risk
The result was A new aging clock: The scores that indicated faster aging (as it emerged from brain scans) were in fact related to a higher risk of future chronic diseases and death. Scientists have also tested their new tool on the data of over 42,500 subjects of the UK Biobank database and over 1700 brain scans of Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative patients.
In the latter group, the patients who – based on the new clock based on brain scans – recorded faster aging, ran a greater risk of receiving a diagnosis of dementia in the following 16 years.
A research tool
The method is still too unripe in order to be used in the clinical field and will first calibrate on many populations and people of different ages. But it could be used for research purposes: among the next objectives of the team there is, for example, to understand whether conditions such as schizophrenia or sleep disorders are associated with faster aging rhythms.
