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A recent study conducted by researchers at the Karolinska Institute focused on analyzing brain images from 70-year-olds using AI to estimate their biological brain age. The results showed that detrimental factors to vascular health, such as inflammation and high glucose levels, were associated with an older-looking brain, while healthy lifestyles, including regular exercise, were linked to brains with a younger appearance.

The study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, emphasized the importance of maintaining vascular health to protect cognitive resilience against aging. The researchers aim to refine the AI tool for clinical use and explore sex differences and social health influences on brain resilience in future studies.

Factors such as diabetes, stroke, cerebral small vessel disease, and inflammation were found to be linked to older-looking brains, while a healthy lifestyle involving regular exercise correlated with a younger brain appearance. The AI tool used provided robust estimates of biological brain age, potentially useful in future clinical dementia assessments.

The study involved 739 cognitively healthy 70-year-olds, with MRI scans of their brains analyzed using an AI-based algorithm. The brain images were complemented with blood samples and lifestyle factors data. Women and men may have different factors linked to older- and younger-looking brains, sparking the researchers’ interest in investigating sex differences and sociocultural influences on brain resilience.

The study was primarily supported by multiple grants and foundations and researchers did not report any conflicts of interest. Future research will focus on understanding the influence of social health factors, sleep, and stress on brain resilience, with a particular emphasis on women’s health factors.

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Photo credit neurosciencenews.com