A powerful "enemy" that destroys the brain. Scientists: This is why it ages faster.
The international study, which included researchers from Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America, included 161,981 participants from 40 countries. It analyzed environmental, social, and political factors and their impact on brain aging using advanced artificial intelligence and epidemiological modeling.
Researchers assessed the exposome of the study participants. The term "exposome" describes all the factors to which a person is exposed throughout their life. The influence of environmental factors (including lifestyle factors) complements genomic characteristics.
Data analysis shows that air pollution, social inequality and weak democratic institutions significantly accelerate aging.
The authors introduce the global exposome framework (the study of the impact of environmental exposures—physical, social, and political—on health and disease) and its impact on biobehavioral age gaps (BBAG), a novel measure of accelerated aging. BBAG is the difference between a person's actual age and their age assessed based on their health status, cognitive function, education, functional status, and risk factors such as cardiometabolic health or sensory impairment.
A new study redefines healthy aging as an environmental, social, and political phenomenon. The authors call for expanding public health strategies beyond lifestyle recommendations to address structural inequalities and governance deficits.
According to the study, place of residence and related exposome factors may cause aging to occur several years faster, increasing the risk of cognitive and functional decline.
"Our biological age reflects the world we live in. Exposure to toxic air, political instability, and inequality certainly impact society, but they also shape our health. We need to stop viewing brain health as a solely individual responsibility and consider a more ecological and neurosyndemic framework," said Agustin Ibanez, corresponding author of the study and Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at Trinity College Dublin and the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat).
The data provide the first evidence that interconnected structural factors, beyond individual lifestyle, are deeply embedded in the aging process.
"This is not a metaphor: environmental and political conditions leave measurable traces in 40 countries, revealing a clear gradient of accelerated aging from Africa, through Latin America, Asia, to Europe," said Dr. Hernan Hernandez of the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) and lead author of the study.
Using computational tools, the researchers developed the Biobehavioral Age Gap (BBAG), a biological marker that compares predicted age with chronological age . The BBAGs closely matched people's actual ages, but many exhibited delayed or accelerated aging beyond expectations.
The researchers then exploited these gaps to examine patterns across different regions of the world and the types of exposures that may accelerate aging. Europe had the healthiest aging compared to other regions, while Egypt and South Africa showed the fastest aging.
People in Asia and Latin America fell in between. In Europe, faster aging was observed in eastern and southern countries. Globally, faster aging was strongly associated with lower national income levels.
Factors associated with faster aging include:
- poor air quality,
- economic inequalities,
- gender inequality,
- migrations,
- lack of political representation,
- limited party freedom,
- limited voting rights,
- unfair elections,
- weak democratic systems.
Importantly, higher BBAG scores were associated with real-world consequences: they predicted future decline in both cognitive abilities and daily functioning. Individuals with larger age differences were more likely to show significant decline in these areas over time.
“Whether a person ages in a healthy or accelerated manner depends not only on individual choices or biology, but also on their physical, social, and political environment—and these effects vary widely across countries,” said Sandra Baez, co-author and Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at GBHI.
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