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Tissue- and compartment-resolved brain age reveals vascular-metabolic and neurodegenerative aging
Kim H, Zang C, Lee J, Haddad E, Park G, Zhang J, Kim J, Choi K et al.. Research Square, 2026-09-11
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
Brain aging reflects heterogeneous vascular-metabolic and neurodegenerative processes, yet brain age is often reduced to a gray matter (GM)-dominant estimate. Emerging evidence suggests that subtle “dirty-appearing” T2-FLAIR abnormalities may mark diffuse white matter (WM) vulnerability that precedes or extends beyond overt WM hyperintensities (WMH). Here we developed a compartment-resolved framework integrating T1-weighted GM features with unthresholded T2-FLAIR WM signal across depth- and lobe-specific surfaces. In 26,446 UK Biobank and 992 ADNI participants, WM brain age captured variation beyond WMH burden and was preferentially associated with cardiometabolic risk before age 65; periventricular WM age statistically linked cardiometabolic burden to cognition. Across the Alzheimer’s disease continuum, GM and WM brain age increased with diagnostic severity but showed distinct molecular associations: GM aging aligned more closely with amyloid burden, whereas WM aging showed prominent tau associations. These findings reveal complementary vascular-metabolic and neurodegenerative dimensions of brain aging obscured by global brain age estimates.
Key findings
- Emerging evidence suggests that subtle “dirty-appearing” T2-FLAIR abnormalities may mark diffuse white matter (WM) vulnerability that precedes or extends beyond overt WM hyperintensities (WMH).
- In 26,446 UK Biobank and 992 ADNI participants, WM brain age captured variation beyond WMH burden and was preferentially associated with cardiometabolic risk before age 65; periventricular WM age statistically linked cardiometabolic burden to cognition.
- These findings reveal complementary vascular-metabolic and neurodegenerative dimensions of brain aging obscured by global brain age estimates.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 21 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on 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 and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 21 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (Research Square) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| 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 | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 13 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 21 out of 100. |
| Total | 21 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Kim, H., Zang, C., Lee, J., Haddad, E., Park, G., Zhang, J., et al. (2026). Tissue- and compartment-resolved brain age reveals vascular-metabolic and neurodegenerative aging. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10808325/v1
Vancouver
Kim H, Zang C, Lee J, Haddad E, Park G, Zhang J, et al. Tissue- and compartment-resolved brain age reveals vascular-metabolic and neurodegenerative aging. Research Square. 2026. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10808325/v1.
BibTeX
@article{kim2026-be334a05,
author = {Kim, H. and Zang, C. and Lee, J. and Haddad, E. and Park, G. and Zhang, J. and Kim, J. and Choi, K. and others},
title = {{Tissue- and compartment-resolved brain age reveals vascular-metabolic and neurodegenerative aging}},
journal = {Research Square},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.21203/rs.3.rs-10808325/v1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10808325/v1}
}
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