Scientists also identified anti-ageing drugs and experimental compounds that could target the genes to reverse decline

March 11, 2025 | 08:00pm

How fast your brain ages is affected by these 64 genes

Scientists also identified anti-ageing drugs and experimental compounds that could target the genes to reverse decline

Brain scans combined with genetic data helped scientists identify genes involved in neurological ageing.Credit: Zephyr/Science Photo Library

Researchers have identified 64 genes that help to shape how quickly a person’s brain ages, in one of the largest attempts to pinpoint genetic factors that influence the organ’s decline.

The study, published¹ in Science Advances on 12 March, also pinpointed 13 potential drugs that have already been explored in clinical trials for their anti-ageing effects and that could be used to target these genes.

“The findings are significant because they could pave the way for new treatments to keep the brain healthier longer,” says Agustín Ibáñez, a neuroscientist at Trinity College Dublin. “But much more research is needed before these findings can be applied in practice.”

Brain scans

The authors wanted to better understand and find new ways to slow the brain’s ageing. They analysed brain scans from 38,961 people in the UK Biobank database using a deep-learning model trained to estimate brain age. They calculated the difference between each person’s predicted brain age and their chronological age — known as the brain age gap (BAG) and used by researchers as a marker of brain ageing.

Then the team performed analyses on a subset of 31,520 healthy participants who had genetic data available, to find out which genes drive their BAG differences.

To narrow down which of the BAG-linked genes are good targets for new or repurposed drugs, the authors combined their analyses with activity data for 2,682 genes in blood cells and 2,915 genes in brain tissue. This flagged 64 genes with supported links to BAG. Some of these genes are involved in blood clotting and cell death, and seven of them were shown through genetic testing to have strongest links with BAG.

Anti-ageing compounds

The team also found 466 compounds, either approved as drugs or being tested in clinical studies, that target 29 of these genes and could help to reverse brain ageing. Thirteen of those compounds act on some of these 64 genes or their protein products, and have already been tested — or are being tested — in anti-ageing clinical trials.