Research shows that people who sleep poorly tend to have brain age that is older than their actual age. Chronic inflammation in the body caused by poor sleep likely plays a part. While the link between poor sleep and dementia has long been known, it was unclear whether poor sleep habits could cause dementia or whether poor sleep was an early symptom of dementia. However, new research has revealed that sleep quality may have a direct impact on the rate at which the brain ages . Our findings provide evidence that poor sleep may contribute to accelerated brain aging, explains Abigail Dove, a neuroepidemiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and point to inflammation as one of the underlying mechanisms.

Motivation: Brain aging varies significantly between sexes, yet genetic contributions to these differences remain under - explored. Goal: Identify sex - specific genetic variants linked to accelerated brain aging using structural MRI data. Approach: This study proposes implementing Brain Age Gap Estimates (BrainAGE) with sex - stratified GW AS to uncover genetic associations in T1 - weighted MRI data from the UK Biobank, complemented by Post - GW AS analyses to explore biological pathways and gene expression. Results: Sex - stratified analyses revealed neurotransmitter and mitochondrial response to cellular stress genes linked to brain aging in females and immune - related genes in males. Shared genes suggest common neurostructural roles, advancing understanding of sex - specific genetic determinants in brain aging. Impact: This study highlights the importance of sex - stratified analysis in understanding the genetic associations with brain aging. Findings pave the way for future work on personalized treatments and preventative measures for neurodegeneration based on individual genetic profiles and sex - specific risks.

The increasing global aging population necessitates improved methods to assess brain aging and its related neurodegenerative changes. Brain Age Gap Estimation (BrainAGE) offers a neuroimaging biomarker for understanding these changes by predicting brain age from MRI scans. Current approaches primarily use T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (T1w MRI) data, capturing only structural brain information. To address this limitation, AI-generated Cerebral Blood Volume (AICBV) data, synthesized from non-contrast MRI scans, offers functional insights by revealing subtle blood-tissue contrasts otherwise undetectable in standard imaging. We integrated AICBV with T1w MRI to predict brain age, combining both structural and functional metrics. We developed a deep learning model using a VGG-based architecture for both modalities and combined their predictions using linear regression. Our model achieved a mean absolute error (MAE) of 3.95 years and an $R^2$ of 0.943 on the test set ($n = 288$), outperforming existing models trained on similar data. We have further created gradient-based class activation maps (Grad-CAM) to visualize the regions of the brain that most influenced the model's predictions, providing interpretable insights into the structural and functional contributors to brain aging.

There are some obvious signs of a poor night's sleep -- fatigue, irritability and trouble focusing, to name a few -- but it can also have some hidden effects. In a new study led by University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), poor sleep was linked to faster brain aging in middle-aged adults. While previous studies have focused on older adults, the average age of the 589 people in this study was 40 years old, according to a press release. The participants completed two sleep questionnaires five years apart. After 15 years, they underwent brain scans.

In recent weeks, a web-based word puzzle called Wordle has become a popular daily distraction. Suddenly, millions of people are focused on their vocabulary of five-letter words, and are newly aware of concepts like letter frequency and letter position as they strategize about the best opening words and faster solutions. For these people, Wordle is captivating. Previous research can help us understand how our brains respond to word games, and why we love them. Wordle is a single-player puzzle that combines elements of several games, including Scrabble and Battleship.

Cheating on your diet could lead to weight gain, but if you follow the Mediterranean diet and switch to unhealthy foods you may also make your brain age faster. A team from Rush University Medical Center found that adding in foods from the Western diet, such as pizza, sweets and processed meats, reverse cognitive benefits from the Mediterranean diet. The study examined more than 5,000 individuals over the age of 65 from 1993 to 2021 and over the course of three years participants were asked to complete cognitive tests and report on how often the ate certain foods. Researcher recently compiled the data and found those who stuck to the Mediterranean diet had brains that were nearly six years younger than their peers on the Western diet. The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the eating habits of Spain, Italy and Greece, and focuses on consuming more fruit and fish and limiting sugar, dairy and processed foods.

It may be possible to delay your brain from aging. And no, this isn't the beginning of a pitch from an after-hours informercial -- the science behind this concept is surprisingly real. A recent study in Nature Neuroscience merged three fields to make strides in this research: longevity, neuroscience, and machine learning. An algorithm that can predict your brain age from MRI scans. Brain age refers to how well your brain is aging compared to your chronological age. Humans run the gamut in this context; we've all encountered a spry 70-year-old who seemed surprisingly sharp for their age.

Everyone knows people who act far more inconsequential and younger, or more mature and reasonable than what their age would be. Just go to a Tinder-like app to check it out – the chance you can confuse the age of a virtual profile is vast, even with photos. In addition to fakes, this is because the age of the brain does not necessarily reflect a person's chronological age. In the brain, factors depend on other processes such as genetics, social environment, and habits. However, the subject is far from just academic entertainment.

Delaying "brain age" may sound like the latest quick-fix gimmick on a late-night infomercial, but the science underlying the concept is very real. Rather than reflecting the average functional state of your chronological age, brain age looks at how well your brain is aging relative to how many birthdays you've celebrated. We all know people that seem sharper and act much younger than their age--that incredulous moment when you realize the 40-year-old you've been chatting with on the plane is actually a grandma in her 70s. Brain age, as a concept, hopes to capture the biological intricacies behind that cognitive dissociation. Longevity researchers have increasingly realized that how long you've lived isn't the best predictor of overall health.

Human cognitive abilities decline with age. And neuroscientists have long known that this decline correlates with anatomical changes in the brain as well. So it's no surprise to learn that it is possible to spot the signs of aging in MRI images of the brain and even to determine a "brain age." The difference between brain age and chronological age can reveal the onset of conditions such as dementia. But the analysis is lengthy because the MRI data has to be heavily processed before it is suitable for automated aging.