News Release 

Cellular aging is linked to structural changes in the brain

Telomeres on human chromosomes change together with brain structure

Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences


IMAGE: To determine the role of telomer length on brain structure scientists measured their length with the DNA of leukocytes from the blood using a polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, they calculated... view more 

Credit: MPI CBS


Telomere length is therefore regarded as a marker for the biological age of a person -- in contrast to their chronological age. For two people of the same chronological age, the person with shorter telomeres has an increased risk of developing age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's or cancer, and even a shorter life expectancy.

Telomere lengthening


"To explore whether a short-term change in telomere length, after only a few months, might actually be associated with changes in a person's biological age, we linked it to another biomarker of aging and health: brain structure," explains Lara Puhlmann, now a member of the Research Group 'Social Stress and Family Health' led by Veronika Engert at the Leipzig Max Planck Institute. The project had been initiated by Tania Singer as part of the ReSource Project.


Fast changes in biological aging

The result: "Across systems, our biological aging appears to change more quickly than we thought. Indices of aging can vary together significantly in just three months," says Puhlmann. If the telomeres changed in length, this was associated with structural changes in the brain. In a period when participants' telomeres lengthened during the study, it was also more likely that their cortex had thickened at the same time. On the other hand, telomere shortening was associated with reductions of grey matter. This association occurred specifically in a brain region called the precuneus, which is a central metabolic and connectional hub.

The above results suggest that even short-term changes in telomere length over just three months might reflect general fluctuations in the body's health- and aging status. Many other questions, however, remain open. "We do not know, for example, which biological mechanism underlies the short-term changes in telomere length", explains the scientist, "or whether the short-term changes really have a longer-term effect on health."

Mental training


In contrast to their earlier work and previous findings from other groups, the team did not find any training effects on telomeres. Future studies will need to continue to address the question of which measures or behaviors most effectively stop or even reverse telomere shortening, and the biological aging process.

