Investigating Brain Age as a Biomarker of Ageing

Individuals age at varying rates and this can influence their risk of disease. Brain age is an innovative biomarker which uses neuroimaging data to measure how old a person’s brain is relative to their chronological age. My PhD investigated the utility of this brain age biomarker to predict health outcomes in older people, demonstrating that it was associated with cognitive function; but also demonstrating sex differences in brain aging. My thesis identified challenges with using brain age to predict disease risk, but also highlighted the future opportunities and potential clinical application of this measure.