Researchers have found that a specific body profile—higher muscle mass combined with a lower visceral fat to muscle ratio—tracks with a younger brain age, according to a study being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Visceral fat is hidden deep within the abdominal cavity, surrounding vital internal organs.
“Healthier bodies with more muscle mass and less hidden belly fat are more likely to have healthier, youthful brains,” said senior study author Cyrus Raji, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of radiology and neurology in the Department of Radiology at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. “Better brain health, in turn, lowers the risk for future brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.”
Brain age is the computational estimation of chronological age from a structural MRI scan of the brain. Muscle mass, as tracked by body MRI, can be a surrogate marker for various interventions to reduce frailty and improve brain health, and brain age predicted by structural brain images can lend insight to Alzheimer’s disease risk factors, such as muscle loss.
While it is commonly known that chronological aging translates to loss of muscle mass and increased hidden belly fat, this work shows that these health measures relate to brain aging itself,” Dr. Raji said. “It shows muscle and fat mass quantified in the body are key reflectors of brain health, as tracked with brain aging.”
Full story: More Muscle, Less Belly Fat Slows Brain Aging | RSNA