Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Cognitive Decline: A Twin Study
Viola Vaccarino, Minxuan Huang, Zeyuan Wang, Qin Hui, Amit J Shah, Jack Goldberg, Nicholas Smith, Belal Kaseer et al.. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2021-09-13
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
In cross-sectional analyses at baseline, there was no association between DNAm age acceleration and cognitive function scores. In longitudinal analyses, however, comparing twins within pairs, each additional year of age acceleration using the Horvath's method was associated with a 3% decline (95% CI, 1%-5%) in the composite executive function score and a 2.5% decline (95% CI, 0.01%-4.9%) in the memory function score. These results did not attenuate after adjusting for education and other risk factors. Middle-aged men who had older DNAm age relative to their brothers of the same demographic age showed a faster rate of cognitive decline in the subsequent 11.5 years. These results point to the role of epigenetic modifications in cognitive aging.
Key findings
- In cross-sectional analyses at baseline, there was no association between DNAm age acceleration and cognitive function scores.
- In longitudinal analyses, however, comparing twins within pairs, each additional year of age acceleration using the Horvath's method was associated with a 3% decline (95% CI, 1%-5%) in the composite executive function score and a 2.5% decline (95% CI, 0.01%-4.9%) in the memory function score.
- These results did not attenuate after adjusting for education and other risk factors.
- Middle-aged men who had older DNAm age relative to their brothers of the same demographic age showed a faster rate of cognitive decline in the subsequent 11.5 years.
- These results point to the role of epigenetic modifications in cognitive aging.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants266
- Effect size2.5%; 0.01%; 4.9%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 64/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 36 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 64 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 266 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 33606025) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 36 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 36 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 64 out of 100. |
| Total | 64 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Vaccarino, V., Huang, M., Wang, Z., Hui, Q., Shah, A. J., Goldberg, J., et al. (2021). Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Cognitive Decline: A Twin Study. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glab047
Vancouver
Vaccarino V, Huang M, Wang Z, Hui Q, Shah AJ, Goldberg J, et al. Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Cognitive Decline: A Twin Study. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. 2021. doi:10.1093/gerona/glab047. PMID: 33606025.
BibTeX
@article{vaccarino2021-33606025,
author = {Vaccarino, Viola and Huang, Minxuan and Wang, Zeyuan and Hui, Qin and Shah, Amit J and Goldberg, Jack and Smith, Nicholas and Kaseer, Belal and others},
title = {{Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Cognitive Decline: A Twin Study}},
journal = {The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1093/gerona/glab047},
pmid = {33606025},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glab047}
}