Redefining the "aging brain" through diverse data

Age is more than just one number. While neuroscientists used to think of cognitive aging as a single trendline, they now realize that vast individual differences require a more predictive and personalized approach. As they uncover more factors that affect cognition over time, they are realizing that modeling the aging brain requires more diverse data than traditionally captured.

"We need to appreciate that how people age is as much a biological process as it is a social process," says Randy McIntosh of Simon Fraser University, who is chairing a symposium at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) on brain resilience.

"It means there is no single molecule or a single protein that is a biomarker of healthy brain aging; there is going to be some combination. And capturing that intersection between what happens in our brains and what happens in our environment and in our culture is hard to do, but it's also an exciting opportunity, especially in this age of machine learning."

Indeed, as will be presented today at the CNS conference in Vancouver, B.C., researchers are now looking beyond the fMRI scanner to incorporate a wide range of data into their studies of cognition over the lifespan, everything from sleep and vascular health to religiosity and lifestyle.