Brain aging in common brain disorders
In a study just published in Nature Neuroscience, Tobias Kaufmann and colleagues at NORMENT reported that several psychiatric and neurological disorders are associated with an apparent aging of the brain.
The researchers analysed brain images from more than 45.000 individuals, including data on individuals with different psychiatric and neurological disorders. Several of these disorders were associated with an apparent aging of the brain, with particular strong effects in dementia, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia.
The study further illustrated that the degree to which brain aging occurs is heritable. Interestingly, the study finds that genes that underly this apparent aging process in healthy individuals overlap with genes that we know to be associated with the disorders. These results together may point to shared molecular mechanisms between apparent brain aging and common brain disorders.
The article in Nature Neuroscience:
Common brain disorders are associated with heritable patterns of apparent aging of the brain.
Kaufmann T, van der Meer D, Doan NT, Schwarz E, Lund MJ, Agartz I, Alnæs D, Barch DM, Baur-Streubel R, Bertolino A, Bettella F, Beyer MK, Bøen E, Borgwardt S, Brandt CL, Buitelaar J, Celius EG, Cervenka S, Conzelmann A, Córdova-Palomera A, Dale AM, de Quervain DJF, Carlo P, Djurovic S, Dørum ES, Eisenacher S, Elvsåshagen T, Espeseth T, Fatouros-Bergman H, Flyckt L, Franke B, Frei O, Haatveit B, Håberg AK, Harbo HF, Hartman CA, Heslenfeld D, Hoekstra PJ, Høgestøl EA, Jernigan TL, Jonassen R, Jönsson EG; Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP), Kirsch P, Kłoszewska I, Kolskår KK, Landrø NI, Hellard S, Lesch KP, Lovestone S, Lundervold A, Lundervold AJ, Maglanoc LA, Malt UF, Mecocci P, Melle I, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Moberget T, Norbom LB, Nordvik JE, Nyberg L, Oosterlaan J, Papalino M, Papassotiropoulos A, Pauli P, Pergola G, Persson K, Richard G, Rokicki J, Sanders AM, Selbæk G, Shadrin AA, Smeland OB, Soininen H, Sowa P, Steen VM, Tsolaki M, Ulrichsen KM, Vellas B, Wang L, Westman E, Ziegler GC, Zink M, Andreassen OA, Westlye LT.
Nat Neurosci. 2019 Oct;22(10):1617-1623. doi: 10.1038/s41593-019-0471-7. Epub 2019 Sep 24.
PMID: 31551603
Tobias Kaufmann's publications
Lars T. Westlye's publications
Original news article from the NORMENT - Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research home page at UiO:
Brain aging in common brain disorders