Your lifestyle may be aging your brain faster than you think

New research from the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Thompson Institute has found a relationship between lifestyle choices that affect dementia risk and early signs of aging in the brain.

Researchers discovered reduced white matter volume and an imbalance in electrical activity in the brains of participants whose lifestyle factors were linked to a higher risk of dementia. Dr. Thomas Pace, lead author of the study now published in Age and Ageing, said it appeared factors like dietary habits, sleep patterns and physical activity levels, could already be affecting the brain before any signs of cognitive decline.

“We wanted to establish whether modifiable factors that affect people’s dementia risk had any relationship with biological and functional markers of brain aging,” Dr. Pace said.

“The study wasn’t longitudinal, so we can’t definitively say yet that your lifestyle choices are leading to early brain aging. But there’s clearly a relationship there.

“And it exists before any symptoms of dementia.”

In the same way that sun safety choices can present on your skin and affect your future cancer risk, Dr. Pace and his colleagues found a relationship between a person’s lifestyle choices, their brain health, and their future dementia risk.

To test this, Dr. Pace and his colleagues used CogDrisk—an online tool developed by Neuroscience Research Australia and the University of New South Wales—to give participants a dementia risk score based on their demographics and lifestyle factors.

“By controlling for non-modifiable factors like age, sex and education in the scoring, we were able to focus specifically on the dementia risk posed only by a participant’s lifestyle,” Dr. Pace said.

“We then employed brain-scanning tools like Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to examine brain structure, electroencephalography (EEG) for electrical brain activity, and a series of cognitive tests to assess memory and thinking abilities.

“What we found was that even in very healthy older adults, higher modifiable dementia risk was connected to two major indicators of brain health—white matter and the brain’s ability to balance its electrical activity.”

“White matter volume has been well established as a measure for early brain aging. But the other marker—the exponent that measures balance of electrical activity in your brain—was new.”

With dementia on the cusp of becoming the leading cause of death among Australians according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Dr. Pace and his colleagues in the Thompson Institute’s Healthy Brain Aging Program are encouraging people to take simple steps towards reducing their future risk.

Co-author of the study Dr. Sophie Andrews, who leads the Thompson Institute’s Healthy Brain Aging Program, said the findings highlight the importance of acting early for dementia risk reduction.

“The positive thing about ‘modifiable’ factors is that you can quite easily lower your risk and reduce the signs of aging on your brain with good lifestyle decisions—the earlier the better,” Dr. Andrews said.

“Some practical examples of changes that help lower risk include eating a more Mediterranean-style diet including olive oil, leafy greens and fish, aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep per night, doing some regular physical activity and keeping socially connected, just to name a few.”

It appears that the dementia risk of your daily choices is “painted” onto the canvas of your brain. The good news? The paint is still wet, and you’re holding the brush.