Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2026, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (9): 4221-4222.doi: 10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-25-01039

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Lifestyle risk factors of white matter brain aging: Evidence, potential mechanisms, and future direction

Tianzhou Ma*, Zhenyao Ye, Li Feng, Shuo Chen*   

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA (Ma T, Feng L)
    Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA (Ma T, Ye Z, Chen S)
    Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA (Ye Z, Chen S)
  • Online:2026-09-15 Published:2026-05-11
  • Contact: Tianzhou Ma, PhD, tma0929@umd.edu; Shuo Chen, PhD, shuochen@som.umaryland.edu.
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of National Institute of Health under the award number 1DP1DA048968-01 to SC and TM, by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the award number 1K01DA059603-01A1 to TM, by the University of Maryland Grand Challenge Grant, MPower Brain Health and Human Performance seed grant and EPIB Department Pilot Award to TM.

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Abstract: Population aging has greatly increased the global burden of neurodegenerative diseases. As we age, the structure and function of our brain undergo significant changes, including brain volume decline, cortical thinning, white matter deterioration, and altered functional connectivity, among others, resulting in cognitive decline and an elevated risk of neurodegenerative diseases. However, there is significant individual variation in how fast the brain ages and the timing of when these changes emerge and progress into age-related diseases. A previous study has used advanced machine learning (ML) methods to predict age from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data in healthy people (Franke and Gaser, 2019). Various risk factors, both modifiable and non-modifiable, were found to influence the brain aging process, either delaying or accelerating its progression (Cole, 2020).