Acceleration of brain aging after small-volume infarcts

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neurology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Stroke patients often show a greater biological brain age than controls, a difference termed the brain age gap (BAG).
• The impact of small-volume infarcts on accelerating brain aging remains unclear.
• Brain age gap serves as a biomarker for brain health and aging processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if small-volume infarcts significantly increase the brain age gap (BAG).
• To determine if stroke accelerates brain aging in patients with minor infarcts.
• To assess longitudinal changes in brain age after stroke.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of 123 stroke patients with small-volume infarcts.
• Utilized a machine learning-based brain age model trained on structural brain features.
• Employed t-tests and regression analyses to evaluate brain age changes and associations with stroke severity and outcomes.

Main Results:

• Brain aging accelerated significantly (1.04 years increase) between initial and 6-month follow-ups (p < 0.05).
• Older patients (>50 years) showed less age acceleration post-stroke compared to younger patients.
• Higher stroke severity (NIHSS > 3) was associated with more pronounced brain aging acceleration, even after adjusting for confounders (p = 0.008).
• Significant differences in BAG at 6 months were observed across different functional outcome groups (p = 0.012).

Conclusions:

• Stroke accelerates brain aging, even with small infarcts.
• Accelerated brain aging is more pronounced in elderly patients and linked to stroke severity and functional outcomes.
• Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of accelerated brain aging after minor strokes.