Anders M Fjell

Thanks a lot Simon!

This work suggests we need to look at aging as a complex system with critical transitions, not just gradual wear and tear.

Why does this matter? If decline is "punctuated," treating aging as a smooth erosion misses the critical windows for intervention. We need to understand what triggers the transition from a stable plateau to a drop.

However, the core finding was that the "Smooth Decline" is largely a statistical artifact of averaging. When we look at individuals, we see that memory aging is often "punctuated": extended plateaus of stability interrupted by abrupt, state-like transitions of loss.

We harmonized data across 3 major cohorts (SHARE, HRS, Betula). We also looked at MRI data from ~2,000 people to see the brain basis of these changes. Stability is real for ~10% > 70 years over a decade, with less brain atrophy in the medial temporal lobe.

Does memory fade slowly, or in drops and bursts? We analyzed 728k tests from 210k people. Key finding: “stability” isn’t a trait you either have or don’t have - it’s often a time-limited state at different points in aging. Preprint "Punctuated Memory Change": 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

An international research effort combining brain imaging and memory testing from thousands of adults is offering a clearer picture of how age-related brain changes affect memory. @andersfjell.bsky.social Learn More in Nature Communications @natureportfolio.nature.com 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Why do some people lose memory faster with age? A mega-analysis of 13 longitudinal datasets (3,700+ adults, 10,000+ MRIs) shows that memory decline tracks brain atrophy, especially in the hippocampus, and that these links strengthen with age, but not APOE status: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Vulnerability to memory decline in aging revealed by a mega-analysis of structural brain change www.nature.com/articles/s41...

" Our mega-analysis reveals a nonlinear relationship between memory decline and brain atrophy, primarily affecting individuals with above-average brain structural decline. "

Very impressed with @didacvp.bsky.social's work in @natcomms.nature.com, the most thorough mapping of longitudinal memory-atrophy relationships in normal aging, showing both global and memory-specific associations, which grow stronger with age. Early accsess here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Impressive MEGA-analysis:

Vulnerability to memory decline in aging revealed by a mega-analysis of structural brain change
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Thanks for the fun and interesting discussions @kathrynbates.bsky.social and Chloe Carrick

Older woman with brain drawing superimposed on her head. Stock image.

Over 12,500 brain scans from cognitively healthy adults reveal that sex differences in age-related brain atrophy can’t explain why women have higher rates of Alzheimer's disease. The authors call for research into alternative explanations. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/hIYj50XgiCn

It is this type of sky over the university. Morning office window view.

@nature.com made a news piece on our new @pnas.org paper. Good job Anne Ravndal!
Men’s brains shrink faster than women’s: what that means for Alzheimer’s.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Sex differences in healthy brain aging are unlikely to explain higher Alzheimer’s disease prevalence in women | PNAS As Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is diagnosed more frequently in women, understanding the role of sex has become a key priority in AD research. However,...

Another interesting paper from LifeBrain consortium suggesting that sex differences in healthy brain aging are unlikely to explain higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in women www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Takeaway: sex gaps in structural brain aging are modest and we must look beyond atrophy to explain women’s higher AD diagnosis rates. Other biomarkers? Or maybe non-biological causes?

Sex differences in healthy brain aging are unlikely to explain higher Alzheimer’s disease prevalence in women | PNAS As Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is diagnosed more frequently in women, understanding the role of sex has become a key priority in AD research. However,...

@pnas.org: Small sex differences in brain aging, steeper decline in men in some regions. Does not explain why more women are diagnosed with AD. 12,638 longitudinal MRIs, 4,726 participants across 14 cohorts. Control for head-size, education, life-expectancy. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Effects remained even when accounting for amyloid level. Reflect an immune response to accumulating, sub-threshold Aβ? Preexisting effects of higher cortical thickness in those that subsequently develop high Aβ? Protective factor?

Cortical thickness changes precede high levels of amyloid by at least seven years Alzheimer's disease (AD) is now defined based on its underlying brain pathology, with the presence of amyloid (Aβ) plaques at high enough levels sufficient to warrant a diagnosis in the absence of cog...

Using 4570 longitudinal MRIs + 1684 Aβ PET scans from cognitively healthy older adults @jamesmroe.bsky.social find cortical thickness changed ≥7 years before PET-detectable Aβ. Those who later developed high Aβ already had thicker cortex & less thinning.
@LCBC_uio www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Reevaluating the role of education on cognitive decline and brain aging in longitudinal cohorts across 33 Western countries - Nature Medicine In a large cross-national study, education was linked to better memory and larger brain volumes but not to slower cognitive or brain decline with age, suggesting that the association reflects early-li...

🧠 Education boosts memory levels but not brain aging resistance

A new study across 33 countries found more education links to better memory and larger brain volume, but not slower cognitive or brain decline.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm 🧪

Education does not affect memory decline or brain aging - Nature Medicine Competing explanations account for education’s link to better memory and brain structure in older age. By analyzing more than 400,000 memory scores and over 15,000 MRI scans, we found the association ...

@natmed.nature.com made a nice Research Briefing about our paper. Highglights with less details, the main conclusion is the same: Education does not affect memory decline or brain aging @LCBC_UiO @LifebrainEU www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧠💡 CAN YOU SAVE YOUR FUTURE BRAIN BY GETTING A DEGREE? A new Nature Medicine paper—led by @andersfjell.bsky.social—analyzed 407,000 memory tests and 15,000 brain scans across 33 countries to find out whether education protect you from cognitive decline at older ages. The answer: not really. [1/5]

People with more education did better — but declined just as fast. The takeaway: To reduce dementia risk, we may need to shift from boosting adult cognitive reserve to investing in early education. #Lifecourse #BrainHealth #DementiaPrevention

The three #LancetCommission reports on #DementiaPrevention have shifted focus from early schooling to longer education as protection against dementia. Our new results suggest this shift may be misguided: early-life factors, not adult education, likely drive the effect.

Reevaluating the role of education on cognitive decline and brain aging in longitudinal cohorts across 33 Western countries Nature Medicine - In a large cross-national study, education was linked to better memory and larger brain volumes but not to slower cognitive or brain decline with age, suggesting that the...

New in @NatureMedicine Education is not linked to slower memory or brain decline in aging. We analyzed 400,000 memory tests and 15,000 MRIs from 33 countries. Associations likely shaped by childhood schooling and development. @LCBC_UiO @LifebrainEU rdcu.be/ex8iC

New paper by @njudd.com shows that an additional year of education doesn't causally affect telomere length in old age, despite many (theory) accounts arguing otherwise. It's been desk rejected by 13 journals happy to publish small 'positive' telomere studies. Sigh. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

This is a really interesting paper - showing what you can and cannot infer about individual differences in change from x-sect data. A take-home-message is that typical brain age models cannot be used to measure differences in brain aging - deviations reflect stable differences between people.

Finally, similar to the conclusion of @didacvp.bsky.social direct.mit.edu/imag/article... long follow-up time between scans yields much higher sensitivity to detect individual differences in change than many scans: 2 scans over 4 yr better than 12 scans over 1 yr