People with more muscle and less visceral fat tend to have brains that appear biologically younger, according to advanced MRI-AI analysis.
The results point toward lifestyle and therapeutic approaches that prioritize muscle preservation and targeted visceral fat reduction for better brain health.
Researchers report that people with more muscle and a lower ratio of visceral fat to muscle tend to show signs of a younger biological brain age. These findings come from a study that will be presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Visceral fat refers to the fat stored deep in the abdomen around important 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 an estimated biological age of the brain based on a structural MRI scan. Muscle mass measured through body MRI can serve as an indicator for interventions aimed at reducing frailty and supporting brain health, while brain age calculated from structural images may help identify Alzheimer’s disease risk factors, including muscle loss.
