Metabolic Syndrome and Various Disorders Accelerate Brain Aging

A large UK Biobank imaging study of 27,375 middle‑aged adults found that participants with metabolic syndrome had a significantly higher brain‑age gap, meaning their MRI‑estimated brain age exceeded chronological age. The association was dose‑dependent, with each component—central obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, elevated triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol—independently linked to older‑appearing brains. The researchers identified eight circulating metabolites that partially mediated this relationship, suggesting inflammatory and lipid‑metabolism pathways.

A separate analysis of 45,900 control scans and 2,698 individuals with neurological or psychiatric conditions reported that dementia, mild cognitive impairment, alcohol addiction, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder were each associated with accelerated brain aging, especially in the prefrontal cortex. No brain‑age differences were observed for ADHD or autism spectrum disorder.