New insight into how molecular measures of aging relate to neuroimaging markers of brain health

A new research paper was published in Volume 18 of Aging-US on April 7, 2026, titled "Association of epigenetic age acceleration with MRI biomarkers of aging and Alzheimer's disease neurodegeneration."

The study was led by first and corresponding author Linda K. McEvoy from the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of researchers across leading institutions in the United States and Europe.

In this study, the researchers examined whether epigenetic measures of biological aging are associated with structural brain changes linked to aging and Alzheimer's disease. Using data from 1,196 older women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study, they analyzed five widely used epigenetic clocks and compared them with MRI-derived measures obtained approximately eight years later.

The findings revealed a clear distinction between different aspects of aging. None of the epigenetic clocks were associated with accelerated brain aging as measured by the SPARE-BA index, a composite MRI marker of brain age. However, one specific clock-AgeAccelGrim2-was significantly associated with the Alzheimer's Disease Pattern Similarity Score (AD-PS), a validated imaging biomarker linked to increased risk of dementia.