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Beck D, de Lange AG, Gurholt TP, Voldsbekk I, Maximov II, Subramaniapillai S, Schindler L, Hindley G, Leonardsen EH, Rahman Z, van der Meer D, Korbmacher M, Linge J, Leinhard OD, Kalleberg KT, Engvig A, Sønderby I, Andreassen OA, Westlye LT. Dissecting unique and common variance across body and brain health indicators using age prediction. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26685. [PMID: 38647042 PMCID: PMC11034003 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Ageing is a heterogeneous multisystem process involving different rates of decline in physiological integrity across biological systems. The current study dissects the unique and common variance across body and brain health indicators and parses inter-individual heterogeneity in the multisystem ageing process. Using machine-learning regression models on the UK Biobank data set (N = 32,593, age range 44.6-82.3, mean age 64.1 years), we first estimated tissue-specific brain age for white and gray matter based on diffusion and T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, respectively. Next, bodily health traits, including cardiometabolic, anthropometric, and body composition measures of adipose and muscle tissue from bioimpedance and body MRI, were combined to predict 'body age'. The results showed that the body age model demonstrated comparable age prediction accuracy to models trained solely on brain MRI data. The correlation between body age and brain age predictions was 0.62 for the T1 and 0.64 for the diffusion-based model, indicating a degree of unique variance in brain and bodily ageing processes. Bayesian multilevel modelling carried out to quantify the associations between health traits and predicted age discrepancies showed that higher systolic blood pressure and higher muscle-fat infiltration were related to older-appearing body age compared to brain age. Conversely, higher hand-grip strength and muscle volume were related to a younger-appearing body age. Our findings corroborate the common notion of a close connection between somatic and brain health. However, they also suggest that health traits may differentially influence age predictions beyond what is captured by the brain imaging data, potentially contributing to heterogeneous ageing rates across biological systems and individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dani Beck
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of Mental Health and Substance AbuseDiakonhjemmet HospitalOsloNorway
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Ann‐Marie G. de Lange
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical NeurosciencesCHUV and University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Tiril P. Gurholt
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Irene Voldsbekk
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Ivan I. Maximov
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of Health and FunctioningWestern Norway University of Applied SciencesBergenNorway
| | - Sivaniya Subramaniapillai
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical NeurosciencesCHUV and University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
| | - Louise Schindler
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical NeurosciencesCHUV and University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
| | - Guy Hindley
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Esten H. Leonardsen
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Zillur Rahman
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Dennis van der Meer
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life SciencesMaastricht UniversityMaastrichtThe Netherlands
| | - Max Korbmacher
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of Health and FunctioningWestern Norway University of Applied SciencesBergenNorway
| | - Jennifer Linge
- AMRA Medical ABLinköpingSweden
- Division of Diagnostics and Specialist Medicine, Department of Health, Medicine and Caring SciencesLinköping UniversityLinköpingSweden
| | - Olof D. Leinhard
- AMRA Medical ABLinköpingSweden
- Division of Diagnostics and Specialist Medicine, Department of Health, Medicine and Caring SciencesLinköping UniversityLinköpingSweden
| | | | - Andreas Engvig
- Department of Endocrinology, Obesity and Preventive Medicine, Section of Preventive CardiologyOslo University HospitalOsloNorway
| | - Ida Sønderby
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of Medical GeneticsOslo University HospitalOsloNorway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental DisordersUniversity of Oslo
| | - Ole A. Andreassen
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental DisordersUniversity of Oslo
| | - Lars T. Westlye
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental DisordersUniversity of Oslo
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Barth C, Galea LA, Jacobs EG, Lee BH, Westlye LT, de Lange AMG. Menopausal hormone therapy and the female brain: leveraging neuroimaging and prescription registry data from the UK Biobank cohort. medRxiv 2024:2024.04.08.24305450. [PMID: 38645009 PMCID: PMC11030497 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.08.24305450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
Background and Objectives Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is generally thought to be neuroprotective, yet results have been inconsistent. Here, we present a comprehensive study of MHT use and brain characteristics in middle- to older aged females from the UK Biobank, assessing detailed MHT data, APOE ε4 genotype, and tissue-specific gray (GM) and white matter (WM) brain age gap (BAG), as well as hippocampal and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes. Methods A total of 19,846 females with magnetic resonance imaging data were included (current-users = 1,153, 60.1 ± 6.8 years; past-users = 6,681, 67.5 ± 6.2 years; never-users = 12,012, mean age 61.6 ± 7.1 years). For a sub-sample (n = 538), MHT prescription data was extracted from primary care records. Brain measures were derived from T1-, T2- and diffusion-weighted images. We fitted regression models to test for associations between the brain measures and MHT variables including user status, age at initiation, dosage and duration, formulation, route of administration, and type (i.e., bioidentical vs synthetic), as well as active ingredient (e.g., estradiol hemihydrate). We further tested for differences in brain measures among MHT users with and without a history of hysterectomy ± bilateral oophorectomy and examined associations by APOE ε4 status. Results We found significantly higher GM and WM BAG (i.e., older brain age relative to chronological age) as well as smaller left and right hippocampus volumes in current MHT users, not past users, compared to never-users. Effects were modest, with the largest effect size indicating a group difference of 0.77 years (~9 months) for GM BAG. Among MHT users, we found no significant associations between age at MHT initiation and brain measures. Longer duration of use and older age at last use post menopause was associated with higher GM and WM BAG, larger WMH volume, and smaller left and right hippocampal volumes. MHT users with a history of hysterectomy ± bilateral oophorectomy showed lower GM BAG relative to MHT users without such history. Although we found smaller hippocampus volumes in carriers of two APOE ε4 alleles compared to non-carriers, we found no interactions with MHT variables. In the sub-sample with prescription data, we found no significant associations between detailed MHT variables and brain measures after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Discussion Our results indicate that population-level associations between MHT use, and female brain health might vary depending on duration of use and past surgical history. Future research is crucial to establish causality, dissect interactions between menopause-related neurological changes and MHT use, and determine individual-level implications to advance precision medicine in female health care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Barth
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Liisa A.M. Galea
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Emily G. Jacobs
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Bonnie H. Lee
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Lars T. Westlye
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Centre for Precision Psychiatry, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ann-Marie G. de Lange
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Thompson AD, Petry SE, Hauser ER, Boyle SH, Pathak GA, Upchurch J, Press A, Johnson MG, Sims KJ, Williams CD, Gifford EJ. Longitudinal Patterns of Multimorbidity in Gulf War Era Veterans With and Without Gulf War Illness. J Aging Health 2024:8982643241245163. [PMID: 38591766 DOI: 10.1177/08982643241245163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Objectives: To examine whether severe Gulf War illness (SGWI) case status was associated with longitudinal multimorbidity patterns. Methods: Participants were users of the Veteran Health Administration Health Care System drawn from the Gulf War Era Cohort and Biorepository (n = 840). Longitudinal measures of multimorbidity were constructed using (1) electronic health records (Charlson Comorbidity Index; Elixhauser; and Veterans Affairs Frailty Index) from 10/1/1999 to 6/30/2023 and (2) self-reported medical conditions (Deficit Accumulation Index) since the war until the survey date. Accelerated failure time models examined SGWI case status as a predictor of time until threshold level of multimorbidity was reached, adjusted for age and sociodemographic and military characteristics. Results: Models, adjusted for covariates, revealed that (1) relative to the SWGI- group, the SGWI+ group was associated with an accelerated time for reaching each threshold and (2) the relationship between SGWI and each threshold was not moderated by age. Discussion: Findings suggest that veterans with SGWI experienced accelerated aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew D Thompson
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Sarah E Petry
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Elizabeth R Hauser
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
- Duke Molecular Physiology Institute and Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Stephen H Boyle
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Gita A Pathak
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Veteran Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Julie Upchurch
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Ashlyn Press
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Melissa G Johnson
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kellie J Sims
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Christina D Williams
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Elizabeth J Gifford
- Cooperative Studies Program Epidemiology Center, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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de Lange AMG, Leonardsen EH, Barth C, Schindler LS, Crestol A, Holm MC, Subramaniapillai S, Hill D, Alnæs D, Westlye LT. Parental status and markers of brain and cellular age: A 3D convolutional network and classification study. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2024; 165:107040. [PMID: 38636355 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2024] [Revised: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/30/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
Recent research shows prominent effects of pregnancy and the parenthood transition on structural brain characteristics in humans. Here, we present a comprehensive study of how parental status and number of children born/fathered links to markers of brain and cellular ageing in 36,323 UK Biobank participants (age range 44.57-82.06 years; 52% female). To assess global effects of parenting on the brain, we trained a 3D convolutional neural network on T1-weighted magnetic resonance images, and estimated brain age in a held-out test set. To investigate regional specificity, we extracted cortical and subcortical volumes using FreeSurfer, and ran hierarchical clustering to group regional volumes based on covariance. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) derived from DNA was used as a marker of cellular ageing. We employed linear regression models to assess relationships between number of children, brain age, regional brain volumes, and LTL, and included interaction terms to probe sex differences in associations. Lastly, we used the brain measures and LTL as features in binary classification models, to determine if markers of brain and cellular ageing could predict parental status. The results showed associations between a greater number of children born/fathered and younger brain age in both females and males, with stronger effects observed in females. Volume-based analyses showed maternal effects in striatal and limbic regions, which were not evident in fathers. We found no evidence for associations between number of children and LTL. Classification of parental status showed an Area under the ROC Curve (AUC) of 0.57 for the brain age model, while the models using regional brain volumes and LTL as predictors showed AUCs of 0.52. Our findings align with previous population-based studies of middle- and older-aged parents, revealing subtle but significant associations between parental experience and neuroimaging-based surrogate markers of brain health. The findings further corroborate results from longitudinal cohort studies following parents across pregnancy and postpartum, potentially indicating that the parenthood transition is associated with long-term influences on brain health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann-Marie G de Lange
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | | | - Claudia Barth
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Louise S Schindler
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Arielle Crestol
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | | | - Sivaniya Subramaniapillai
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Dónal Hill
- Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC), EPFL-ETHZ, Switzerland
| | - Dag Alnæs
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Centre for Precision Psychiatry, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lars T Westlye
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Centre for Precision Psychiatry, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Seitz-Holland J, Haas SS, Penzel N, Reichenberg A, Pasternak O. BrainAGE, brain health, and mental disorders: A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 159:105581. [PMID: 38354871 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The imaging-based method of brainAGE aims to characterize an individual's vulnerability to age-related brain changes. The present study systematically reviewed brainAGE findings in neuropsychiatric conditions and discussed the potential of brainAGE as a marker for biological age. A systematic PubMed search (from inception to March 6th, 2023) identified 273 articles. The 30 included studies compared brainAGE between neuropsychiatric and healthy groups (n≥50). We presented results qualitatively and adapted a bias risk assessment questionnaire. The imaging modalities, design, and input features varied considerably between studies. While the studies found higher brainAGE in neuropsychiatric conditions (11 mild cognitive impairment/ dementia, 11 schizophrenia spectrum/ other psychotic and bipolar disorder, six depression/ anxiety, two multiple groups), the associations with clinical characteristics were mixed. While brainAGE is sensitive to group differences, limitations include the lack of diverse training samples, multi-modal studies, and external validation. Only a few studies obtained longitudinal data, and all have used algorithms built solely to predict chronological age. These limitations impede the validity of brainAGE as a biological age marker.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Seitz-Holland
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Shalaila S Haas
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nora Penzel
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Abraham Reichenberg
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ofer Pasternak
- Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Korbmacher M, van der Meer D, Beck D, de Lange AMG, Eikefjord E, Lundervold A, Andreassen OA, Westlye LT, Maximov II. Brain asymmetries from mid- to late life and hemispheric brain age. Nat Commun 2024; 15:956. [PMID: 38302499 PMCID: PMC10834516 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45282-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
The human brain demonstrates structural and functional asymmetries which have implications for ageing and mental and neurological disease development. We used a set of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) metrics derived from structural and diffusion MRI data in N=48,040 UK Biobank participants to evaluate age-related differences in brain asymmetry. Most regional grey and white matter metrics presented asymmetry, which were higher later in life. Informed by these results, we conducted hemispheric brain age (HBA) predictions from left/right multimodal MRI metrics. HBA was concordant to conventional brain age predictions, using metrics from both hemispheres, but offers a supplemental general marker of brain asymmetry when setting left/right HBA into relationship with each other. In contrast to WM brain asymmetries, left/right discrepancies in HBA are lower at higher ages. Our findings outline various sex-specific differences, particularly important for brain age estimates, and the value of further investigating the role of brain asymmetries in brain ageing and disease development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max Korbmacher
- Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway.
- NORMENT Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Centre (MMIV), Bergen, Norway.
| | - Dennis van der Meer
- NORMENT Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Dani Beck
- NORMENT Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ann-Marie G de Lange
- NORMENT Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Eli Eikefjord
- Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Centre (MMIV), Bergen, Norway
| | - Arvid Lundervold
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Centre (MMIV), Bergen, Norway
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- NORMENT Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lars T Westlye
- NORMENT Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ivan I Maximov
- Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway.
- NORMENT Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
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Wang R, Deng Y, Zhang W, Ning J, Li H, Feng J, Cheng W, Yu J. Associations between adiposity and white matter hyperintensities: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of 34,653 participants. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26560. [PMID: 38224536 PMCID: PMC10789203 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2023] [Revised: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES White matter hyperintensities (WMH) increase the risk of stroke and cognitive impairment. This study aims to determine the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between adiposity and WMH. METHODS Participants were enrolled from the UK Biobank cohort. Associations of concurrent, past, and changes in overall and central adiposity with WMH were investigated by linear and nonlinear regression models. The association of longitudinal adiposity and WMH volume changes was determined by a linear mixed model. Mediation analysis investigated the potential mediating effect of blood pressure. RESULTS In 34,653 participants with available adiposity measures and imaging data, the concurrent obese group had a 25.3% (β [95% CI] = 0.253 [0.222-0.284]) higher WMH volume than the ideal weight group. Increment in all adiposity measures was associated with a higher WMH volume. Among them, waist circumference demonstrated the strongest effect (β [95% CI] = 0.113 [0.101-0.125]). Past adiposity also demonstrated similar effects. Among the subset of 2664 participants with available WMH follow-up data, adiposity measures were predictive of WMH change. Regarding changes of adiposity, compared with ideal weight stable group, those who turned from ideal weight to overweight/obese had a 8.1% higher WMH volume (β [95% CI] = 0.081 [0.039-0.123]), while participants who turned from overweight/obese to ideal weight demonstrated no significant WMH volume change. Blood pressure partly meditates the associations between adiposity and WMH. CONCLUSIONS Both concurrent and past adiposity were associated with a higher WMH volume. The detrimental effects of adiposity on WMH occurred throughout midlife and in the elderly and may still exist after changes in obesity status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong‐Ze Wang
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontier Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical CollegeFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Yue‐Ting Deng
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontier Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical CollegeFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Wei Zhang
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain‐Inspired IntelligenceFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired IntelligenceFudan University, Ministry of EducationShanghaiChina
| | - Jing Ning
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontier Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical CollegeFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Hong‐Qi Li
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontier Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical CollegeFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Jian‐Feng Feng
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain‐Inspired IntelligenceFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired IntelligenceFudan University, Ministry of EducationShanghaiChina
| | - Wei Cheng
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontier Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical CollegeFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain‐Inspired IntelligenceFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain Inspired IntelligenceFudan University, Ministry of EducationShanghaiChina
| | - Jin‐Tai Yu
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontier Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical CollegeFudan UniversityShanghaiChina
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Yang Z, Zhao W, Linli Z, Guo S, Feng J. Associations between polygenic risk scores and accelerated brain ageing in smokers. Psychol Med 2023; 53:7785-7794. [PMID: 37555321 PMCID: PMC10755245 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723001812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Smoking contributes to a variety of neurodegenerative diseases and neurobiological abnormalities, suggesting that smoking is associated with accelerated brain aging. However, the neurobiological mechanisms affected by smoking, and whether they are genetically influenced, remain to be investigated. METHODS Using structural magnetic resonance imaging data from the UK Biobank (n = 33 293), a brain age predictor was trained on non-smoking healthy groups and tested on smokers to obtain the BrainAge Gap (BAG). The cumulative effect of multiple common genetic variants associated with smoking was then calculated to acquire a polygenic risk score (PRS). The relationship between PRS, BAG, total gray matter volume (tGMV), and smoking parameters was explored and further genes included in the PRS were annotated to identify potential molecular mechanisms affected by smoking. RESULTS The BrainAge in smokers was predicted with very high accuracy (r = 0.725, MAE = 4.16). Smokers had a greater BAG (Cohen's d = 0.074, p < 0.0001) and higher PRS (Cohen's d = 0.63, p < 0.0001) than non-smokers. A higher PRS was associated with increased amount of smoking, mediated by BAG and tGMV. Several neurotransmitters and ion channel pathways were enriched in the group of smoking-related genes involved in addiction, brain synaptic plasticity, and some neurological disorders. CONCLUSION By using a simplified single indicator of the entire brain (BAG) in combination with the PRS, this study highlights the greater BAG in smokers and its linkage with genes and smoking behavior, providing insight into the neurobiological underpinnings and potential features of smoking-related aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeyu Yang
- MOE-LCSM, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, P.R.China
- Key Laboratory of Applied Statistics and Data Science, Hunan Normal University, College of Hunan Province, Changsha 410006, P.R.China
| | - Wei Zhao
- MOE-LCSM, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, P.R.China
- Key Laboratory of Applied Statistics and Data Science, Hunan Normal University, College of Hunan Province, Changsha 410006, P.R.China
| | - Zeqiang Linli
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, 510006, P.R.China
| | - Shuixia Guo
- MOE-LCSM, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, P.R.China
- Key Laboratory of Applied Statistics and Data Science, Hunan Normal University, College of Hunan Province, Changsha 410006, P.R.China
| | - Jianfeng Feng
- Centre for Computational Systems Biology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P.R.China
- Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, England
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9
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Vigneshwaran V, Wilms M, Forkert ND. The causal link between cardiometabolic risk factors and gray matter atrophy: An exploratory study. Heliyon 2023; 9:e21567. [PMID: 38027770 PMCID: PMC10661200 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Although gray matter atrophy is commonly observed with aging, it is highly variable, even among healthy people of the same age. This raises the question of what other factors may contribute to gray matter atrophy. Previous studies have reported that risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases are associated with accelerated brain aging. However, these studies were primarily based on standard correlation analyses, which do not unveil a causal relationship. While randomized controlled trials are typically required to investigate true causality, in this work, we investigated an alternative method by exploring data-driven causal discovery and inference techniques on observational data. Accordingly, this feasibility study used clinical and quantified gray matter volume data from 22,793 subjects from the UK biobank cohort without any known neurological disease. Our method identified that age, sex, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BFP), and smoking exhibit a causal relationship with gray matter volume. Interventions on the causal network revealed that higher BMI and BFP values significantly increased the chance of gray matter atrophy in males, whereas this was not the case in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vibujithan Vigneshwaran
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Matthias Wilms
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Nils D. Forkert
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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10
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Acosta JN, Haider SP, Rivier C, Leasure AC, Sheth KN, Falcone GJ, Payabvash S. Blood pressure-related white matter microstructural disintegrity and associated cognitive function impairment in asymptomatic adults. Stroke Vasc Neurol 2023; 8:358-367. [PMID: 36878613 PMCID: PMC10647862 DOI: 10.1136/svn-2022-001929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate the white matter (WM) microstructural/cytostructural disintegrity patterns related to higher systolic blood pressure (SBP), and whether they mediate SBP effects on cognitive performance in middle-aged adults. METHODS Using the UK Biobank study of community-dwelling volunteers aged 40-69 years, we included participants without a history of stroke, dementia, demyelinating disease or traumatic brain injury. We investigated the association of SBP with MRI diffusion metrics: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), intracellular volume fraction (a measure of neurite density), isotropic (free) water volume fraction (ISOVF) and orientation dispersion across WM tracts. Then, we determined whether WM diffusion metrics mediated the effects of SBP on cognitive function. RESULTS We analysed 31 363 participants-mean age of 63.8 years (SD: 7.7), and 16 523 (53%) females. Higher SBP was associated with lower FA and neurite density, but higher MD and ISOVF. Among different WM tracts, diffusion metrics of the internal capsule anterior limb, external capsule, superior and posterior corona radiata were most affected by higher SBP. Among seven cognitive metrics, SBP levels were only associated with 'fluid intelligence' (adjusted p<0.001). In mediation analysis, the averaged FA of external capsule, internal capsule anterior limb and superior cerebellar peduncle mediated 13%, 9% and 13% of SBP effects on fluid intelligence, while the averaged MD of external capsule, internal capsule anterior and posterior limbs, and superior corona radiata mediated 5%, 7%, 7% and 6% of SBP effects on fluid intelligence, respectively. DISCUSSION Among asymptomatic adults, higher SBP is associated with pervasive WM microstructure disintegrity, partially due to reduced neuronal count, which appears to mediate SBP adverse effects on fluid intelligence. Diffusion metrics of select WM tracts, which are most reflective of SBP-related parenchymal damage and cognitive impairment, may serve as imaging biomarkers to assess treatment response in antihypertensive trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julián N Acosta
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Stefan P Haider
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munchen, Germany
| | - Cyprien Rivier
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Audrey C Leasure
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Kevin N Sheth
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Guido J Falcone
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Seyedmehdi Payabvash
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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11
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Korbmacher M, Wang M, Eikeland R, Buchert R, Andreassen OA, Espeseth T, Leonardsen E, Westlye LT, Maximov II, Specht K. Considerations on brain age predictions from repeatedly sampled data across time. Brain Behav 2023; 13:e3219. [PMID: 37587620 PMCID: PMC10570486 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.3219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Brain age, the estimation of a person's age from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters, has been used as a general indicator of health. The marker requires however further validation for application in clinical contexts. Here, we show how brain age predictions perform for the same individual at various time points and validate our findings with age-matched healthy controls. METHODS We used densely sampled T1-weighted MRI data from four individuals (from two densely sampled datasets) to observe how brain age corresponds to age and is influenced by acquisition and quality parameters. For validation, we used two cross-sectional datasets. Brain age was predicted by a pretrained deep learning model. RESULTS We found small within-subject correlations between age and brain age. We also found evidence for the influence of field strength on brain age which replicated in the cross-sectional validation data and inconclusive effects of scan quality. CONCLUSION The absence of maturation effects for the age range in the presented sample, brain age model bias (including training age distribution and field strength), and model error are potential reasons for small relationships between age and brain age in densely sampled longitudinal data. Clinical applications of brain age models should consider of the possibility of apparent biases caused by variation in the data acquisition process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max Korbmacher
- Department of Health and FunctioningWestern Norway University of Applied SciencesBergenNorway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT)Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualisation Center (MMIV)BergenNorway
| | - Meng‐Yun Wang
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualisation Center (MMIV)BergenNorway
- Department of Biological and Medical PsychologyUniversity of BergenBergenNorway
| | - Rune Eikeland
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualisation Center (MMIV)BergenNorway
- Department of Biological and Medical PsychologyUniversity of BergenBergenNorway
| | - Ralph Buchert
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Nuclear MedicineUniversity Medical Center Hamburg‐EppendorfHamburgGermany
| | - Ole A. Andreassen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT)Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental DisordersUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Thomas Espeseth
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of PsychologyOslo New University CollegeOsloNorway
| | - Esten Leonardsen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT)Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Lars T. Westlye
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT)Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Ivan I. Maximov
- Department of Health and FunctioningWestern Norway University of Applied SciencesBergenNorway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT)Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Karsten Specht
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualisation Center (MMIV)BergenNorway
- Department of Biological and Medical PsychologyUniversity of BergenBergenNorway
- Department of EducationUiT The Arctic University of NorwayTromsøNorway
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12
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Iakunchykova O, Schirmer H, Vangberg T, Wang Y, Benavente ED, van Es R, van de Leur RR, Lindekleiv H, Attia ZI, Lopez-Jimenez F, Leon DA, Wilsgaard T. Machine-learning-derived heart and brain age are independently associated with cognition. Eur J Neurol 2023; 30:2611-2619. [PMID: 37254942 DOI: 10.1111/ene.15902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A heart age biomarker has been developed using deep neural networks applied to electrocardiograms. Whether this biomarker is associated with cognitive function was investigated. METHODS Using 12-lead electrocardiograms, heart age was estimated for a population-based sample (N = 7779, age 40-85 years, 45.3% men). Associations between heart delta age (HDA) and cognitive test scores were studied adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors. In addition, the relationship between HDA, brain delta age (BDA) and cognitive test scores was investigated in mediation analysis. RESULTS Significant associations between HDA and the Word test, Digit Symbol Coding Test and tapping test scores were found. HDA was correlated with BDA (Pearson's r = 0.12, p = 0.0001). Moreover, 13% (95% confidence interval 3-36) of the HDA effect on the tapping test score was mediated through BDA. DISCUSSION Heart delta age, representing the cumulative effects of life-long exposures, was associated with brain age. HDA was associated with cognitive function that was minimally explained through BDA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olena Iakunchykova
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Henrik Schirmer
- Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, Campus Ahus, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Torgil Vangberg
- Department of Clinical Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
- PET Imaging Center, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Yunpeng Wang
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ernest D Benavente
- Department of Experimental Cardiology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - René van Es
- Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | | | - Haakon Lindekleiv
- University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway
- Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Zachi I Attia
- Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | | | - David A Leon
- Department of Noncommunicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Tom Wilsgaard
- Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
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13
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Korbmacher M, Gurholt TP, de Lange AMG, van der Meer D, Beck D, Eikefjord E, Lundervold A, Andreassen OA, Westlye LT, Maximov II. Bio-psycho-social factors' associations with brain age: a large-scale UK Biobank diffusion study of 35,749 participants. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1117732. [PMID: 37359862 PMCID: PMC10288151 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1117732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Brain age refers to age predicted by brain features. Brain age has previously been associated with various health and disease outcomes and suggested as a potential biomarker of general health. Few previous studies have systematically assessed brain age variability derived from single and multi-shell diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data. Here, we present multivariate models of brain age derived from various diffusion approaches and how they relate to bio-psycho-social variables within the domains of sociodemographic, cognitive, life-satisfaction, as well as health and lifestyle factors in midlife to old age (N = 35,749, 44.6-82.8 years of age). Bio-psycho-social factors could uniquely explain a small proportion of the brain age variance, in a similar pattern across diffusion approaches: cognitive scores, life satisfaction, health and lifestyle factors adding to the variance explained, but not socio-demographics. Consistent brain age associations across models were found for waist-to-hip ratio, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, matrix puzzles solving, and job and health satisfaction and perception. Furthermore, we found large variability in sex and ethnicity group differences in brain age. Our results show that brain age cannot be sufficiently explained by bio-psycho-social variables alone. However, the observed associations suggest to adjust for sex, ethnicity, cognitive factors, as well as health and lifestyle factors, and to observe bio-psycho-social factor interactions' influence on brain age in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max Korbmacher
- Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorder Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Center (MMIV), Bergen, Norway
| | - Tiril P. Gurholt
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorder Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ann-Marie G. de Lange
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorder Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Dennis van der Meer
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorder Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Dani Beck
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorder Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Eli Eikefjord
- Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Center (MMIV), Bergen, Norway
| | - Arvid Lundervold
- Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
- Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Center (MMIV), Bergen, Norway
- Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Ole A. Andreassen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorder Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lars T. Westlye
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorder Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ivan I. Maximov
- Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorder Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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14
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Xiong M, Lin L, Jin Y, Kang W, Wu S, Sun S. Comparison of Machine Learning Models for Brain Age Prediction Using Six Imaging Modalities on Middle-Aged and Older Adults. Sensors (Basel) 2023; 23:3622. [PMID: 37050682 PMCID: PMC10098634 DOI: 10.3390/s23073622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Machine learning (ML) has transformed neuroimaging research by enabling accurate predictions and feature extraction from large datasets. In this study, we investigate the application of six ML algorithms (Lasso, relevance vector regression, support vector regression, extreme gradient boosting, category boost, and multilayer perceptron) to predict brain age for middle-aged and older adults, which is a crucial area of research in neuroimaging. Despite the plethora of proposed ML models, there is no clear consensus on how to achieve better performance in brain age prediction for this population. Our study stands out by evaluating the impact of both ML algorithms and image modalities on brain age prediction performance using a large cohort of cognitively normal adults aged 44.6 to 82.3 years old (N = 27,842) with six image modalities. We found that the predictive performance of brain age is more reliant on the image modalities used than the ML algorithms employed. Specifically, our study highlights the superior performance of T1-weighted MRI and diffusion-weighted imaging and demonstrates that multi-modality-based brain age prediction significantly enhances performance compared to unimodality. Moreover, we identified Lasso as the most accurate ML algorithm for predicting brain age, achieving the lowest mean absolute error in both single-modality and multi-modality predictions. Additionally, Lasso also ranked highest in a comprehensive evaluation of the relationship between BrainAGE and the five frequently mentioned BrainAGE-related factors. Notably, our study also shows that ensemble learning outperforms Lasso when computational efficiency is not a concern. Overall, our study provides valuable insights into the development of accurate and reliable brain age prediction models for middle-aged and older adults, with significant implications for clinical practice and neuroimaging research. Our findings highlight the importance of image modality selection and emphasize Lasso as a promising ML algorithm for brain age prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Xiong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China; (M.X.); (Y.J.); (W.K.); (S.W.); (S.S.)
| | - Lan Lin
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China; (M.X.); (Y.J.); (W.K.); (S.W.); (S.S.)
- Intelligent Physiological Measurement and Clinical Translation, Beijing International Base for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Yue Jin
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China; (M.X.); (Y.J.); (W.K.); (S.W.); (S.S.)
| | - Wenjie Kang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China; (M.X.); (Y.J.); (W.K.); (S.W.); (S.S.)
| | - Shuicai Wu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China; (M.X.); (Y.J.); (W.K.); (S.W.); (S.S.)
- Intelligent Physiological Measurement and Clinical Translation, Beijing International Base for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Shen Sun
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China; (M.X.); (Y.J.); (W.K.); (S.W.); (S.S.)
- Intelligent Physiological Measurement and Clinical Translation, Beijing International Base for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
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15
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Constantinides C, Han LKM, Alloza C, Antonucci LA, Arango C, Ayesa-Arriola R, Banaj N, Bertolino A, Borgwardt S, Bruggemann J, Bustillo J, Bykhovski O, Calhoun V, Carr V, Catts S, Chung YC, Crespo-Facorro B, Díaz-Caneja CM, Donohoe G, Plessis SD, Edmond J, Ehrlich S, Emsley R, Eyler LT, Fuentes-Claramonte P, Georgiadis F, Green M, Guerrero-Pedraza A, Ha M, Hahn T, Henskens FA, Holleran L, Homan S, Homan P, Jahanshad N, Janssen J, Ji E, Kaiser S, Kaleda V, Kim M, Kim WS, Kirschner M, Kochunov P, Kwak YB, Kwon JS, Lebedeva I, Liu J, Mitchie P, Michielse S, Mothersill D, Mowry B, de la Foz VOG, Pantelis C, Pergola G, Piras F, Pomarol-Clotet E, Preda A, Quidé Y, Rasser PE, Rootes-Murdy K, Salvador R, Sangiuliano M, Sarró S, Schall U, Schmidt A, Scott RJ, Selvaggi P, Sim K, Skoch A, Spalletta G, Spaniel F, Thomopoulos SI, Tomecek D, Tomyshev AS, Tordesillas-Gutiérrez D, van Amelsvoort T, Vázquez-Bourgon J, Vecchio D, Voineskos A, Weickert CS, Weickert T, Thompson PM, Schmaal L, van Erp TGM, Turner J, Cole JH, Dima D, Walton E. Brain ageing in schizophrenia: evidence from 26 international cohorts via the ENIGMA Schizophrenia consortium. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:1201-1209. [PMID: 36494461 PMCID: PMC10005935 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01897-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Schizophrenia (SZ) is associated with an increased risk of life-long cognitive impairments, age-related chronic disease, and premature mortality. We investigated evidence for advanced brain ageing in adult SZ patients, and whether this was associated with clinical characteristics in a prospective meta-analytic study conducted by the ENIGMA Schizophrenia Working Group. The study included data from 26 cohorts worldwide, with a total of 2803 SZ patients (mean age 34.2 years; range 18-72 years; 67% male) and 2598 healthy controls (mean age 33.8 years, range 18-73 years, 55% male). Brain-predicted age was individually estimated using a model trained on independent data based on 68 measures of cortical thickness and surface area, 7 subcortical volumes, lateral ventricular volumes and total intracranial volume, all derived from T1-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Deviations from a healthy brain ageing trajectory were assessed by the difference between brain-predicted age and chronological age (brain-predicted age difference [brain-PAD]). On average, SZ patients showed a higher brain-PAD of +3.55 years (95% CI: 2.91, 4.19; I2 = 57.53%) compared to controls, after adjusting for age, sex and site (Cohen's d = 0.48). Among SZ patients, brain-PAD was not associated with specific clinical characteristics (age of onset, duration of illness, symptom severity, or antipsychotic use and dose). This large-scale collaborative study suggests advanced structural brain ageing in SZ. Longitudinal studies of SZ and a range of mental and somatic health outcomes will help to further evaluate the clinical implications of increased brain-PAD and its ability to be influenced by interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Laura K M Han
- Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Orygen, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Vrije Universiteit and GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Clara Alloza
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
| | - Linda Antonella Antonucci
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität-Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Celso Arango
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
| | - Rosa Ayesa-Arriola
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, IDIVAL, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
| | - Nerisa Banaj
- Laboratory of Neuropsychiatry, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Bertolino
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Stefan Borgwardt
- Department of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Jason Bruggemann
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Juan Bustillo
- Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Oleg Bykhovski
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatric University Hospital (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Division of Addiction Medicine, Centre Hospitalier des Quatre Villes, St. Cloud, France
| | - Vince Calhoun
- Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Emory, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Vaughan Carr
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Stanley Catts
- School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia
| | - Young-Chul Chung
- Department of Psychiatry, Jeonbuk National University, Medical School, Jeonju, Korea
- Department of Psychiatry, Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea
- Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea
| | - Benedicto Crespo-Facorro
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
- Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, IBiS-CSIC, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Covadonga M Díaz-Caneja
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
| | - Gary Donohoe
- Centre for Neuroimaging and Cognitive Genomics (NICOG), School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Stefan Du Plessis
- Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
- Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Jesse Edmond
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Stefan Ehrlich
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Germany
| | - Robin Emsley
- Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Lisa T Eyler
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- Desert-Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Paola Fuentes-Claramonte
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
- FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Foivos Georgiadis
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Melissa Green
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Amalia Guerrero-Pedraza
- FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Hospital Benito Menni CASM, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Minji Ha
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Seoul National University College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Tim Hahn
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Frans A Henskens
- School of Medicine & Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Laurena Holleran
- Centre for Neuroimaging and Cognitive Genomics (NICOG), School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Stephanie Homan
- Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Experimental Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Philipp Homan
- Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Neda Jahanshad
- Imaging Genetics Center, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Joost Janssen
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
| | - Ellen Ji
- Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Stefan Kaiser
- Division of Adult Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Minah Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Woo-Sung Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Jeonbuk National University, Medical School, Jeonju, Korea
- Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea
| | - Matthias Kirschner
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Division of Adult Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Peter Kochunov
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Yoo Bin Kwak
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Seoul National University College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jun Soo Kwon
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Seoul National University College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea
| | | | - Jingyu Liu
- Department of Computer Science, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Patricia Mitchie
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
| | - Stijn Michielse
- Department of Neurosurgery, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - David Mothersill
- Centre for Neuroimaging and Cognitive Genomics (NICOG), School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
- Department of Psychology, School of Business, National College of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Bryan Mowry
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- The Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Víctor Ortiz-García de la Foz
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, IDIVAL, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
| | - Christos Pantelis
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne & Melbourne Health, Carlton South, VIC, Australia
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Giulio Pergola
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Piras
- Laboratory of Neuropsychiatry, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Edith Pomarol-Clotet
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
- FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Adrian Preda
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Yann Quidé
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Paul E Rasser
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- Priority Centre for Brain & Mental Health Research, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Kelly Rootes-Murdy
- Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Emory, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Raymond Salvador
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
- FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Marina Sangiuliano
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Salvador Sarró
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
- FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Ulrich Schall
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- Priority Centre for Brain & Mental Health Research, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - André Schmidt
- Department of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Rodney J Scott
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Pierluigi Selvaggi
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Kang Sim
- West Region, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Antonin Skoch
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
- MR unit, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Gianfranco Spalletta
- Laboratory of Neuropsychiatry, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Filip Spaniel
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
- Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Sophia I Thomopoulos
- Imaging Genetics Center, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - David Tomecek
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
- Institute of Computer Science, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - Diana Tordesillas-Gutiérrez
- Department of Radiology, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, Valdecilla Biomedical Research Institute IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
- Advanced Computation and e-Science, Instituto de Física de Cantabria CSIC, Santander, Spain
| | - Therese van Amelsvoort
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Javier Vázquez-Bourgon
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, IDIVAL, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
| | - Daniela Vecchio
- Laboratory of Neuropsychiatry, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Aristotle Voineskos
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, CAMH, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Cynthia S Weickert
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA
| | - Thomas Weickert
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA
| | - Paul M Thompson
- Imaging Genetics Center, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA
| | - Lianne Schmaal
- Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Orygen, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Theo G M van Erp
- Clinical Translational Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Jessica Turner
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - James H Cole
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK
- Dementia Research Centre, Queen Square, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Danai Dima
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Social Sciences, City, University of London, London, UK
| | - Esther Walton
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
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16
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Mogi M, Liu S, Watanabe R, Imai M, Yano A, Ikegawa Y, Kato H. Perspectives on frailty as a total life-course disease with consideration of the fetal environment. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2023; 23:263-269. [PMID: 36855031 DOI: 10.1111/ggi.14565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Revised: 01/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
Frailty attracts research as it represents a significant target for intervention to extend the healthy life span. An unanswered question in this field is the time point during the life-course at which an individual becomes predisposed to frailty. Here, we propose that frailty has a fetal origin and should be regarded as part of the spectrum of the developmental origins of health and disease. The developmental origins of health and disease theory originated from findings linking the fetal environment to lifestyle-related disorders such as hypertension and diabetes. Coincidentally, a recent trend in frailty research also centers on vascular dysfunction and metabolic alterations as the causality of lifestyle-related disorders such as sarcopenia and dementia. Here, we explore the relationship between fetal programming, frailty-related disorders (sarcopenia and dementia), and other age-related diseases mainly based on reports on intrauterine growth restriction. We propose a "total" life-course approach to combat frailty. With this viewpoint, not only physicians and gerontologists but also obstetricians and pediatricians should team up to overcome age-related diseases in the elderly. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2023; ••: ••-••.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masaki Mogi
- Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Tohon, Japan
| | - Shuang Liu
- Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Tohon, Japan
| | - Ryusuke Watanabe
- Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Tohon, Japan.,Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Tohon, Japan
| | - Matome Imai
- Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Tohon, Japan.,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ehime University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohon, Japan
| | - Akiko Yano
- Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Tohon, Japan.,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ehime University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohon, Japan
| | - Yasuhito Ikegawa
- Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Tohon, Japan.,Department of Ophthalmology, Ehime University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohon, Japan
| | - Hidemasa Kato
- Department of Developmental Biology and Functional Genomics, Ehime University, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohon, Japan
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17
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Holm MC, Leonardsen EH, Beck D, Dahl A, Kjelkenes R, de Lange AMG, Westlye LT. Linking brain maturation and puberty during early adolescence using longitudinal brain age prediction in the ABCD cohort. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101220. [PMID: 36841180 PMCID: PMC9972398 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The temporal characteristics of adolescent neurodevelopment are shaped by a complex interplay of genetic, biological, and environmental factors. Using a large longitudinal dataset of children aged 9-13 from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study we tested the associations between pubertal status and brain maturation. Brain maturation was assessed using brain age prediction based on convolutional neural networks and minimally processed T1-weighted structural MRI data. Brain age prediction provided highly accurate and reliable estimates of individual age, with an overall mean absolute error of 0.7 and 1.4 years at the two timepoints respectively, and an intraclass correlation of 0.65. Linear mixed effects (LME) models accounting for age and sex showed that on average, a one unit increase in pubertal maturational level was associated with a 2.22 months higher brain age across time points (β = 0.10, p < .001). Moreover, annualized change in pubertal development was weakly related to the rate of change in brain age (β = .047, p = 0.04). These results demonstrate a link between sexual development and brain maturation in early adolescence, and provides a basis for further investigations of the complex sociobiological impacts of puberty on life outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madelene C Holm
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Esten H Leonardsen
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Dani Beck
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Andreas Dahl
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Rikka Kjelkenes
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ann-Marie G de Lange
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Lars T Westlye
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; KG Jebsen Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Norway
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Aamodt EB, Alnæs D, de Lange AG, Aam S, Schellhorn T, Saltvedt I, Beyer MK, Westlye LT. Longitudinal brain age prediction and cognitive function after stroke. Neurobiol Aging 2023; 122:55-64. [PMID: 36502572 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2022.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Advanced age is associated with post-stroke cognitive decline. Machine learning based on brain scans can be used to estimate brain age of patients, and the corresponding difference from chronological age, the brain age gap (BAG), has been investigated in a range of clinical conditions, yet not thoroughly in post-stroke neurocognitive disorder (NCD). We aimed to investigate the association between BAG and post-stroke NCD over time. Lower BAG (younger appearing brain compared to chronological age) was found associated with lower risk of post-stroke NCD up to 36 months after stroke, even among those showing no evidence of impairments 3 months after hospital admission. For patients with no NCD at baseline, survival analysis suggested that higher baseline BAG was associated with higher risk of post-stroke NCD at 18 and 36 months. In conclusion, a younger appearing brain is associated with a lower risk of post-stroke NCD.
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Zhu JD, Tsai SJ, Lin CP, Lee YJ, Yang AC. Predicting aging trajectories of decline in brain volume, cortical thickness and fractional anisotropy in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia (Heidelb) 2023; 9:1. [PMID: 36596800 PMCID: PMC9810255 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-022-00325-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Brain-age prediction is a novel approach to assessing deviated brain aging trajectories in different diseases. However, most studies have used an average brain age gap (BAG) of individuals with schizophrenia of different illness durations for comparison with healthy participants. Therefore, this study investigated whether declined brain structures as reflected by BAGs may be present in schizophrenia in terms of brain volume, cortical thickness, and fractional anisotropy across different illness durations. We used brain volume, cortical thickness, and fractional anisotropy as features to train three models from the training dataset. Three models were applied to predict brain ages in the hold-out test and schizophrenia datasets and calculate BAGs. We divided the schizophrenia dataset into multiple groups based on the illness duration using a sliding time window approach for ANCOVA analysis. The brain volume and cortical thickness models revealed that, in comparison with healthy controls, individuals with schizophrenia had larger BAGs across different illness durations, whereas the BAG in terms of fractional anisotropy did not differ from that of healthy controls after disease onset. Moreover, the BAG at the initial stage of schizophrenia was the largest in the cortical thickness model. In contrast, the BAG from approximately two decades after disease onset was the largest in the brain volume model. Our findings suggest that schizophrenia differentially affects the decline of different brain structures during the disease course. Moreover, different trends of decline in thickness and volume-based measures suggest a differential decline in dimensions of brain structure throughout the course of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Ding Zhu
- grid.260539.b0000 0001 2059 7017Institute of Brain Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shih-Jen Tsai
- grid.260539.b0000 0001 2059 7017Institute of Brain Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan ,grid.278247.c0000 0004 0604 5314Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ching-Po Lin
- grid.260539.b0000 0001 2059 7017Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Ju Lee
- grid.28665.3f0000 0001 2287 1366Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Albert C. Yang
- grid.260539.b0000 0001 2059 7017Institute of Brain Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan ,grid.260539.b0000 0001 2059 7017Digital Medicine and Smart Healthcare Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan ,grid.278247.c0000 0004 0604 5314Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
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Fletcher E. Multifactorial Modeling of Cognitive Trajectories Using an Advanced Regression Technique: Improving Our Understanding of Biomarkers and Modifiable Variables that Support Cognition. J Alzheimers Dis 2023; 93:815-819. [PMID: 37212065 DOI: 10.3233/jad-230304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Current research trends emphasize complex models of cognitive outcomes, with multiple, interacting predictors, including factors amenable to interventions toward sustaining healthy cognitive aging. Such models often require advanced analysis techniques. The article by Stark et al., 'Partial least squares regression analysis of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, modifiable health variables, and cognitive change in older adults with mild cognitive impairment', uses partial least squares regression to examine the associations to memory and executive change of 29 biomarker and demographic variables. This commentary discusses the significance of their results and methods within the context of current research foci.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan Fletcher
- Department of Neurology, Imaging of Dementia and Aging (IDeA) Laboratory, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
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21
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Mouches P, Wilms M, Aulakh A, Langner S, Forkert ND. Multimodal brain age prediction fusing morphometric and imaging data and association with cardiovascular risk factors. Front Neurol 2022; 13:979774. [PMID: 36588902 PMCID: PMC9794870 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.979774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction The difference between the chronological and biological brain age, called the brain age gap (BAG), has been identified as a promising biomarker to detect deviation from normal brain aging and to indicate the presence of neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, the BAG has been shown to encode biological information about general health, which can be measured through cardiovascular risk factors. Current approaches for biological brain age estimation, and therefore BAG estimation, either depend on hand-crafted, morphological measurements extracted from brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or on direct analysis of brain MRI images. The former can be processed with traditional machine learning models while the latter is commonly processed with convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Using a multimodal setting, this study aims to compare both approaches in terms of biological brain age prediction accuracy and biological information captured in the BAG. Methods T1-weighted MRI, containing brain tissue information, and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), providing information about brain arteries, from 1,658 predominantly healthy adults were used. The volumes, surface areas, and cortical thickness of brain structures were extracted from the T1-weighted MRI data, while artery density and thickness within the major blood flow territories and thickness of the major arteries were extracted from MRA data. Independent multilayer perceptron and CNN models were trained to estimate the brain age from the hand-crafted features and image data, respectively. Next, both approaches were fused to assess the benefits of combining image data and hand-crafted features for brain age prediction. Results The combined model achieved a mean absolute error of 4 years between the chronological and predicted biological brain age. Among the independent models, the lowest mean absolute error was observed for the CNN using T1-weighted MRI data (4.2 years). When evaluating the BAGs obtained using the different approaches and imaging modalities, diverging associations between cardiovascular risk factors were found. For example, BAGs obtained from the CNN models showed an association with systolic blood pressure, while BAGs obtained from hand-crafted measurements showed greater associations with obesity markers. Discussion In conclusion, the use of more diverse sources of data can improve brain age estimation modeling and capture more diverse biological deviations from normal aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Mouches
- Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada,Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada,Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada,*Correspondence: Pauline Mouches
| | - Matthias Wilms
- Department of Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada,Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Agampreet Aulakh
- Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Sönke Langner
- Institute for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany
| | - Nils D. Forkert
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada,Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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22
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Sone D, Beheshti I. Neuroimaging-Based Brain Age Estimation: A Promising Personalized Biomarker in Neuropsychiatry. J Pers Med 2022; 12:jpm12111850. [PMID: 36579560 PMCID: PMC9695293 DOI: 10.3390/jpm12111850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
It is now possible to estimate an individual's brain age via brain scans and machine-learning models. This validated technique has opened up new avenues for addressing clinical questions in neurology, and, in this review, we summarize the many clinical applications of brain-age estimation in neuropsychiatry and general populations. We first provide an introduction to typical neuroimaging modalities, feature extraction methods, and machine-learning models that have been used to develop a brain-age estimation framework. We then focus on the significant findings of the brain-age estimation technique in the field of neuropsychiatry as well as the usefulness of the technique for addressing clinical questions in neuropsychiatry. These applications may contribute to more timely and targeted neuropsychiatric therapies. Last, we discuss the practical problems and challenges described in the literature and suggest some future research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daichi Sone
- Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +81-03-3433
| | - Iman Beheshti
- Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P5, Canada
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Liang WS, Goetz LH, Schork NJ. Assessing brain and biological aging trajectories associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1036102. [PMID: 36389222 PMCID: PMC9650396 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1036102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of effective treatments to prevent and slow Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis is needed in order to tackle the steady increase in the global prevalence of AD. This challenge is complicated by the need to identify key health shifts that precede the onset of AD and cognitive decline as these represent windows of opportunity for intervening and preventing disease. Such shifts may be captured through the measurement of biomarkers that reflect the health of the individual, in particular those that reflect brain age and biological age. Brain age biomarkers provide a composite view of the health of the brain based on neuroanatomical analyses, while biological age biomarkers, which encompass the epigenetic clock, provide a measurement of the overall health state of an individual based on DNA methylation analysis. Acceleration of brain and biological ages is associated with changes in cognitive function, as well as neuropathological markers of AD. In this mini-review, we discuss brain age and biological age research in the context of cognitive decline and AD. While more research is needed, studies show that brain and biological aging trajectories are variable across individuals and that such trajectories are non-linear at older ages. Longitudinal monitoring of these biomarkers may be valuable for enabling earlier identification of divergent pathological trajectories toward AD and providing insight into points for intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Winnie S. Liang
- NetBio, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States
- *Correspondence: Winnie S. Liang,
| | - Laura H. Goetz
- NetBio, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States
| | - Nicholas J. Schork
- NetBio, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States
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24
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Mouches P, Wilms M, Bannister JJ, Aulakh A, Langner S, Forkert ND. An exploratory causal analysis of the relationships between the brain age gap and cardiovascular risk factors. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:941864. [PMID: 36072481 PMCID: PMC9441743 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.941864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain age gap (BAG) has been shown to capture accelerated brain aging patterns and might serve as a biomarker for several neurological diseases. Moreover, it was also shown that it captures other biological information related to modifiable cardiovascular risk factors. Previous studies have explored statistical relationships between the BAG and cardiovascular risk factors. However, none of those studies explored causal relationships between the BAG and cardiovascular risk factors. In this work, we employ causal structure discovery techniques and define a Bayesian network to model the assumed causal relationships between the BAG, estimated using morphometric T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging brain features from 2025 adults, and several cardiovascular risk factors. This setup allows us to not only assess observed conditional probability distributions of the BAG given cardiovascular risk factors, but also to isolate the causal effect of each cardiovascular risk factor on BAG using causal inference. Results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed causal analysis approach by illustrating intuitive causal relationships between variables. For example, body-mass-index, waist-to-hip ratio, smoking, and alcohol consumption were found to impact the BAG, with the greatest impact for obesity markers resulting in higher chances of developing accelerated brain aging. Moreover, the findings show that causal effects differ from correlational effects, demonstrating the importance of accounting for variable relationships and confounders when evaluating the information captured by a biomarker. Our work demonstrates the feasibility and advantages of using causal analyses instead of purely correlation-based and univariate statistical analyses in the context of brain aging and related problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Mouches
- Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Matthias Wilms
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Jordan J. Bannister
- Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Agampreet Aulakh
- Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Sönke Langner
- Institute for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany
| | - Nils D. Forkert
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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25
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Subramaniapillai S, Suri S, Barth C, Maximov II, Voldsbekk I, van der Meer D, Gurholt TP, Beck D, Draganski B, Andreassen OA, Ebmeier KP, Westlye LT, de Lange AG. Sex- and age-specific associations between cardiometabolic risk and white matter brain age in the UK Biobank cohort. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:3759-3774. [PMID: 35460147 PMCID: PMC9294301 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cardiometabolic risk (CMR) factors are associated with accelerated brain aging and increased risk for sex-dimorphic illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Yet, it is unknown how CMRs interact with sex and apolipoprotein E-ϵ4 (APOE4), a known genetic risk factor for AD, to influence brain age across different life stages. Using age prediction based on multi-shell diffusion-weighted imaging data in 21,308 UK Biobank participants, we investigated whether associations between white matter Brain Age Gap (BAG) and body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), body fat percentage (BF%), and APOE4 status varied (i) between males and females, (ii) according to age at menopause in females, and (iii) across different age groups in males and females. We report sex differences in associations between BAG and all three CMRs, with stronger positive associations among males compared to females. Independent of APOE4 status, higher BAG (older brain age relative to chronological age) was associated with greater BMI, WHR, and BF% in males, whereas in females, higher BAG was associated with greater WHR, but not BMI and BF%. These divergent associations were most prominent within the oldest group of females (66-81 years), where greater BF% was linked to lower BAG. Earlier menopause transition was associated with higher BAG, but no interactions were found with CMRs. In conclusion, the findings point to sex- and age-specific associations between CMRs and brain age. Incorporating sex as a factor of interest in studies addressing CMR may promote sex-specific precision medicine, consequently improving health care for both males and females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sivaniya Subramaniapillai
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical NeurosciencesLausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of ScienceMcGill UniversityMontrealQuebecCanada
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Sana Suri
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative NeuroimagingUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Claudia Barth
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital and University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of Psychiatric ResearchDiakonhjemmet HospitalOsloNorway
| | - Ivan I. Maximov
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital and University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of Health and FunctioningWestern Norway University of Applied SciencesBergenNorway
| | - Irene Voldsbekk
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital and University of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Dennis van der Meer
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital and University of OsloOsloNorway
- School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health Medicine and Life SciencesMaastricht UniversityMaastrichtThe Netherlands
| | - Tiril P. Gurholt
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital and University of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Dani Beck
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital and University of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of Psychiatric ResearchDiakonhjemmet HospitalOsloNorway
| | - Bogdan Draganski
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical NeurosciencesLausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- Department of NeurologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - Ole A. Andreassen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital and University of OsloOsloNorway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental DisordersUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | | | - Lars T. Westlye
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Division of Mental Health and AddictionOslo University Hospital and University of OsloOsloNorway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental DisordersUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Ann‐Marie G. de Lange
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical NeurosciencesLausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
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26
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Zeighami Y, Dadar M, Daoust J, Pelletier M, Biertho L, Bouvet-Bouchard L, Fulton S, Tchernof A, Dagher A, Richard D, Evans A, Michaud A. Impact of Weight Loss on Brain Age: Improved Brain Health Following Bariatric Surgery. Neuroimage 2022; 259:119415. [PMID: 35760293 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals living with obesity tend to have increased brain age, reflecting poorer brain health likely due to grey and white matter atrophy related to obesity. However, it is unclear if older brain age associated with obesity can be reversed following weight loss and cardiometabolic health improvement. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of weight loss and cardiometabolic improvement following bariatric surgery on brain health, as measured by change in brain age estimated based on voxel-based morphometry (VBM) measurements. We used three distinct datasets to perform this study: 1) CamCAN dataset to train the brain age prediction model, 2) Human Connectome Project (HCP) dataset to investigate whether individuals with obesity have greater brain age than individuals with normal weight, and 3) pre-surgery, as well as 4, 12, and 24 month post-surgery data from participants (n=87, age: 44.0±9.2 years, BMI: 43.9±4.2 kg/m2) who underwent a bariatric surgery to investigate whether weight loss and cardiometabolic improvement as a result of bariatric surgery lowers the brain age. As expected, our results from the HCP dataset showed a higher brain age for individuals with obesity compared to individuals with normal weight (T-value = 7.08, p-value < 0.0001). We also found significant improvement in brain health, indicated by a decrease of 2.9 and 5.6 years in adjusted delta age at 12 and 24 months following bariatric surgery compared to baseline (p-value < 0.0005 for both). While the overall effect seemed to be driven by a global change across all brain regions and not from a specific region, our exploratory analysis showed lower delta age in certain brain regions (mainly in somatomotor, visual, and ventral attention networks) at 24 months. This reduced age was also associated with post-surgery improvements in BMI, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, and HOMA-IR (T-valueBMI=4.29, T-valueSBP=4.67, T-valueDBP=4.12, T-valueHOMA-IR=3.16, all p-values < 0.05). In conclusion, these results suggest that obesity-related brain health abnormalities (as measured by delta age) might be reversed by bariatric surgery-induced weight loss and widespread improvements in cardiometabolic alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yashar Zeighami
- Douglas Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
| | - Mahsa Dadar
- Douglas Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Justine Daoust
- Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Mélissa Pelletier
- Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Laurent Biertho
- Département de chirurgie générale, Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Léonie Bouvet-Bouchard
- Département de chirurgie générale, Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Stephanie Fulton
- Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Department of Nutrition, Université de Montréal, Montreal Diabetes Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - André Tchernof
- Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Alain Dagher
- Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Denis Richard
- Département de chirurgie générale, Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Alan Evans
- Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Andréanne Michaud
- Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
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27
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de Lange AG, Anatürk M, Rokicki J, Han LKM, Franke K, Alnæs D, Ebmeier KP, Draganski B, Kaufmann T, Westlye LT, Hahn T, Cole JH. Mind the gap: Performance metric evaluation in brain-age prediction. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:3113-3129. [PMID: 35312210 PMCID: PMC9188975 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Estimating age based on neuroimaging-derived data has become a popular approach to developing markers for brain integrity and health. While a variety of machine-learning algorithms can provide accurate predictions of age based on brain characteristics, there is significant variation in model accuracy reported across studies. We predicted age in two population-based datasets, and assessed the effects of age range, sample size and age-bias correction on the model performance metrics Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), the coefficient of determination (R2 ), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). The results showed that these metrics vary considerably depending on cohort age range; r and R2 values are lower when measured in samples with a narrower age range. RMSE and MAE are also lower in samples with a narrower age range due to smaller errors/brain age delta values when predictions are closer to the mean age of the group. Across subsets with different age ranges, performance metrics improve with increasing sample size. Performance metrics further vary depending on prediction variance as well as mean age difference between training and test sets, and age-bias corrected metrics indicate high accuracy-also for models showing poor initial performance. In conclusion, performance metrics used for evaluating age prediction models depend on cohort and study-specific data characteristics, and cannot be directly compared across different studies. Since age-bias corrected metrics generally indicate high accuracy, even for poorly performing models, inspection of uncorrected model results provides important information about underlying model attributes such as prediction variance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann‐Marie G. de Lange
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical NeurosciencesLausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of LausanneLausanne,Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOslo,Department of PsychiatryUniversity of OxfordOxford
| | - Melis Anatürk
- Department of PsychiatryUniversity of OxfordOxford,Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer ScienceUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - Jaroslav Rokicki
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of Oslo, & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University HospitalOsloNorway,Centre of Research and Education in Forensic PsychiatryOslo University HospitalOsloNorway
| | - Laura K. M. Han
- Department of PsychiatryAmsterdam University Medical Centers, Vrije Universiteit and GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam NeuroscienceAmsterdamThe Netherlands
| | - Katja Franke
- Structural Brain Mapping Group, Department of NeurologyJena University HospitalJenaGermany
| | - Dag Alnæs
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of Oslo, & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University HospitalOsloNorway
| | | | - Bogdan Draganski
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical NeurosciencesLausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of LausanneLausanne,Department of NeurologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - Tobias Kaufmann
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of Oslo, & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University HospitalOsloNorway,Tübingen Center for Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry and PsychotherapyUniversity of TübingenTübingenGermany
| | - Lars T. Westlye
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of OsloOslo,NORMENT, Institute of Clinical MedicineUniversity of Oslo, & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University HospitalOsloNorway,KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental DisordersUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Tim Hahn
- Institute of Translational PsychiatryUniversity of MünsterMünsterGermany
| | - James H. Cole
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer ScienceUniversity College LondonLondonUK,Dementia Research Centre, Queen Square Institute of NeurologyUniversity College LondonLondonUK
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28
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Schindler LS, Subramaniapillai S, Barth C, van der Meer D, Pedersen ML, Kaufmann T, Maximov II, Linge J, Leinhard OD, Beck D, Gurholt TP, Voldsbekk I, Suri S, Ebmeier KP, Draganski B, Andreassen OA, Westlye LT, de Lange AMG. Associations between abdominal adipose tissue, reproductive span, and brain characteristics in post-menopausal women. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 36:103239. [PMID: 36451350 PMCID: PMC9668664 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The menopause transition involves changes in oestrogens and adipose tissue distribution, which may influence female brain health post-menopause. Although increased central fat accumulation is linked to risk of cardiometabolic diseases, adipose tissue also serves as the primary biosynthesis site of oestrogens post-menopause. It is unclear whether different types of adipose tissue play diverging roles in female brain health post-menopause, and whether this depends on lifetime oestrogen exposure, which can have lasting effects on the brain and body even after menopause. Using the UK Biobank sample, we investigated associations between brain characteristics and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) in 10,251 post-menopausal females, and assessed whether the relationships varied depending on length of reproductive span (age at menarche to age at menopause). To parse the effects of common genetic variation, we computed polygenic scores for reproductive span. The results showed that higher VAT and ASAT were both associated with higher grey and white matter brain age, and greater white matter hyperintensity load. The associations varied positively with reproductive span, indicating more prominent associations between adipose tissue and brain measures in females with a longer reproductive span. The effects were in general small, but could not be fully explained by genetic variation or relevant confounders. Our findings indicate that associations between abdominal adipose tissue and brain health post-menopause may partly depend on individual differences in cumulative oestrogen exposure during reproductive years, emphasising the complexity of neural and endocrine ageing processes in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise S Schindler
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Sivaniya Subramaniapillai
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Claudia Barth
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Dennis van der Meer
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
| | - Mads L Pedersen
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Tobias Kaufmann
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ivan I Maximov
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
| | - Jennifer Linge
- AMRA Medical AB, Linköping, Sweden; Department of Health, Medicine, and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Olof Dahlqvist Leinhard
- AMRA Medical AB, Linköping, Sweden; Department of Health, Medicine, and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Dani Beck
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Tiril P Gurholt
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Irene Voldsbekk
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Sana Suri
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Bogdan Draganski
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Dept. of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lars T Westlye
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ann-Marie G de Lange
- LREN, Centre for Research in Neurosciences, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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29
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Vidal-Pineiro D, Wang Y, Krogsrud SK, Amlien IK, Baaré WF, Bartres-Faz D, Bertram L, Brandmaier AM, Drevon CA, Düzel S, Ebmeier K, Henson RN, Junqué C, Kievit RA, Kühn S, Leonardsen E, Lindenberger U, Madsen KS, Magnussen F, Mowinckel AM, Nyberg L, Roe JM, Segura B, Smith SM, Sørensen Ø, Suri S, Westerhausen R, Zalesky A, Zsoldos E, Walhovd KB, Fjell A. Individual variations in 'brain age' relate to early-life factors more than to longitudinal brain change. eLife 2021; 10:69995. [PMID: 34756163 PMCID: PMC8580481 DOI: 10.7554/elife.69995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain age is a widely used index for quantifying individuals’ brain health as deviation from a normative brain aging trajectory. Higher-than-expected brain age is thought partially to reflect above-average rate of brain aging. Here, we explicitly tested this assumption in two independent large test datasets (UK Biobank [main] and Lifebrain [replication]; longitudinal observations ≈ 2750 and 4200) by assessing the relationship between cross-sectional and longitudinal estimates of brain age. Brain age models were estimated in two different training datasets (n ≈ 38,000 [main] and 1800 individuals [replication]) based on brain structural features. The results showed no association between cross-sectional brain age and the rate of brain change measured longitudinally. Rather, brain age in adulthood was associated with the congenital factors of birth weight and polygenic scores of brain age, assumed to reflect a constant, lifelong influence on brain structure from early life. The results call for nuanced interpretations of cross-sectional indices of the aging brain and question their validity as markers of ongoing within-person changes of the aging brain. Longitudinal imaging data should be preferred whenever the goal is to understand individual change trajectories of brain and cognition in aging. Scientists who study the brain and aging are keen to find an effective way to measure brain health, which could help identify people at risk for dementia or memory problems. One popular marker is ‘brain age’. This measurement uses a brain scan to estimate a person’s chronological age, then compares the estimated brain age to the person’s actual age to determine whether their brain is aging faster or slower than expected for their age. However, since brain age relies on one brain scan taken at one point in time, it is not clear whether it really measures brain aging or if it might capture brain differences that have been present throughout the individual’s life. Studies comparing individual brain scans over several years would be necessary to know for sure. Now, Vidal-Piñeiro et al. show that the brain-age measurement does not reflect faster brain aging. In the experiments, the researchers compared repeated brain scans of thousands of individuals over 40 years of age. The experiments showed that deviations from normative brain age detected in a single scan reflected early life differences more than changes in the brain over time. For example, people with older-looking brains were more likely to have had a low birth weight or to have a combination of genes associated with having an older looking brain. Vidal-Piñeiro et al. show that brain age mostly reflects a pre-existing brain condition rather than brain aging. The experiments also suggest that genetics and early brain development likely have a strong impact on brain health throughout life. Future studies trying to test or develop brain-aging measurements should use serial measurements to track brain changes over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Didac Vidal-Pineiro
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Yunpeng Wang
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Stine K Krogsrud
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Inge K Amlien
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - William Fc Baaré
- Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - David Bartres-Faz
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona; Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lars Bertram
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.,Lübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics (LIGA), University of Lübeck, Lubeck, Germany
| | - Andreas M Brandmaier
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany.,Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian A Drevon
- Department of Nutrition, Inst Basic Med Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo & Vitas Ltd, Oslo, Norway
| | - Sandra Düzel
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Klaus Ebmeier
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Richard N Henson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Carme Junqué
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona; Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rogier Andrew Kievit
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Simone Kühn
- Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Esten Leonardsen
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ulman Lindenberger
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany.,Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kathrine S Madsen
- Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Radiography, Department of Technology, University College Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Fredrik Magnussen
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Athanasia Monika Mowinckel
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lars Nyberg
- Umeå Centre for Functional Brain Imaging, Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Physiology Section and Department of Radiation Sciences, Diagnostic Radiology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - James M Roe
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Barbara Segura
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona; Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Stephen M Smith
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Øystein Sørensen
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Sana Suri
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN FMRIB), University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.,Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Departments of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Rene Westerhausen
- Section for Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Andrew Zalesky
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Enikő Zsoldos
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Departments of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Kristine Beate Walhovd
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.,Department of radiology and nuclear medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anders Fjell
- Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.,Department of radiology and nuclear medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
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