Julia Chivu ’23

As people age, their cognitive abilities tend to decline. While chronological age is commonly cited as a reason for this decline, it often fails to explain why some individuals have higher cognitive performance than others of the same age. To address this, epigenetic clocks, which analyze DNA methylation at specific genomic sites correlated with aging, are emerging as useful tools for predicting mortality, neurodegenerative diseases, and lifespan. In addition, epigenetic clocks allow scientists to study age acceleration, which describes the differences between an individual’s chronological age and their biological age; positive age acceleration implies that a person’s biological age is older than their chronological age. Prior research has found that positive age acceleration correlates with heightened risks of disease and mortality. A research team led by Krishna Veeramah and Stacy Scott from Stony Brook University conducted a study to determine if age acceleration can be a more reliable predictor of cognitive function in comparison to chronological age. 

The study consisted of 142 individuals whose ages ranged from 25 to 65 years old. The participants were required to perform various cognitive assessments to determine their memory, processing speed, and general cognitive ability; they completed such assessments on their smartphones five times per day for 14 days. To test processing speed, the participants had to match symbol pairs as quickly as possible. To test working memory, participants were tested on their accuracy in remembering the locations of red dots in a grid. A second working memory task involved matching playing cards and remembering their positions. After the 14 days, blood samples were collected from each participant in order to perform various genetic analysis exams and calculate each person’s age acceleration.

The study found that positive age acceleration was associated with worsened cognitive performance. In fact, many individuals were characterized as being 8–10 years epigenetically older than their chronological age. The study also found that older individuals tend to exhibit lower performances in processing speed and working memory. Those individuals who were chronologically older demonstrated less variability in their cognitive abilities, while those who had higher biological ages had more variable cognitive performances over the testing period. These findings illustrate the relationship between accelerated biological aging and diminished cognitive performance. Future research could allow for the development of strategies that aim to improve cognitive function and minimize age acceleration.

Works Cited: 

[1] D. Zavala, et al., Epigenetic age acceleration and chronological age: associations with cognitive performance in daily life. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, (2023). doi: 10.1093/gerona/glad242.[2] Image retrieved from: https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-and-white-clocks-FlHdnPO6dlw