There Are Multiple Clocks That Time Us: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Among 14 Alternative Indicators of Age and Aging
Aging is a complex process influenced by mechanisms operating at numerous levels of functioning. Multiple biomarkers of age have been identified, yet we know little about how the different alternative age indicators are intertwined. In the Berlin Aging Study II (nmin = 328; nmax = 1 517, women = 51%; 14.27 years of education), we examined how levels and 7-year changes in indicators derived from blood assays, magnetic resonance imaging brain scans, other-ratings, and self-reports converge among older adults. We included 8 epigenetic biomarkers (incl. 5 epigenetic "clocks"), a BioAge composite from clinical laboratory parameters, brain age, skin age, subjective age, subjective life expectancy, and subjective health horizon. We found moderate associations within aging domains, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally over 7 years. However, associations across different domains were infrequent and modest. Notably, participants with older BioAge had correspondingly older epigenetic ages. Our results suggest that different aging clocks are only loosely interconnected and that more specific measures are needed to differentiate healthy from unhealthy aging.
Authors
- Christina M. Lill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2805-1307)
- Lars Bertram (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0108-124X)
- Denis Gerstorf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2133-9498)
- Philippe Jawinski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2994-3075)
- Sandra Duezel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7179-2664)
- Sebastian Markett
- Laura Deecke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9268-2469)
- Valentin Max Vetter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5003-7766)
- Jan Homann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2791-7065)
- Simone Kühn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6823-7969)
- Ilja Demuth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-2523)
- Johanna Drewelies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3774-2169)
- Ulman Lindenberger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8428-6453)
- Elisabeth Steinhagen–Thiessen
Institutions
- German Institute for Economic Research (DE)
- University of Münster (DE)
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
- Prostate Cancer Research (GB)
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development (DE)
- Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing (DE)
- University College London (GB)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- University of Lübeck (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journals of Gerontology Series A
- Published
- 2024-10-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glae244
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Health disparities and outcomes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.64
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung