There Are Multiple Clocks That Time Us: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Among 14 Alternative Indicators of Age and Aging

Johanna Drewelies; Jan Homann; Valentin Max Vetter; Sandra Düzel; Simone Kühn; Laura Deecke; Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen; Philippe Jawinski; Sebastian Markett; Ulman Lindenberger; Christina M. Lill; Lars Bertram; Ilja Demuth; Denis Gerstorf

doi:10.1093/gerona/glae244

There Are Multiple Clocks That Time Us: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Among 14 Alternative Indicators of Age and Aging

Johanna Drewelies^*, Jan Homann, Valentin Max Vetter, Sandra Düzel, Simone Kühn, Laura Deecke, Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen, Philippe Jawinski, Sebastian Markett, Ulman Lindenberger, Christina M. Lill, Lars Bertram, Ilja Demuth, Denis Gerstorf

^*Korrespondierende/r Autor/-in für diese Arbeit

Institut für Neurogenetik

4 Zitate (Scopus)

Abstract

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 (n_min = 328; n_max = 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.

Originalsprache	Englisch
Aufsatznummer	glae244
Zeitschrift	Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Jahrgang	80
Ausgabenummer	6
ISSN	1079-5006
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glae244
Publikationsstatus	Veröffentlicht - 01.06.2025

Fördermittel

This article reports data from the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II; https://www.base2.mpg.de/en ). The BASE-II research project (Co-PIs are Lars Bertram, Ilja Demuth, Johanna Drewelies, Sandra Düzel, Denis Gerstorf, Ulman Lindenberger, Graham Pawelec, Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen, and Gert G. Wagner) is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) under grant numbers #16SV5536K, #16SV5537, #16SV5538, #16SV5837, #01UW0808, #01GL1716A, and #01GL1716B. Another source of funding is the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. Additional contributions (eg, equipment, logistics, and personnel) are made from each of the other participating sites. This work was also funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 460683900. C.M.L. was supported by the Heisenberg program of the German Research Foundation (DFG; LI 2654/4-1).

Träger	Trägernummer
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung	16SV5536K, 01GL1716B, 01UW0808, 01GL1716A, 16SV5538, 16SV5537, 16SV5837
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft	460683900, LI 2654/4-1

UN SDGs

Dieser Output leistet einen Beitrag zu folgendem(n) Ziel(en) für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 3 – Gesundheit und Wohlergehen

Strategische Forschungsbereiche und Zentren

Querschnittsbereich: Medizinische Genetik

DFG-Fachsystematik

2.23-06 Molekulare und zelluläre Neurologie und Neuropathologie

Dokumente

10.1093/gerona/glae244

Weitere Links

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Drewelies, J., Homann, J., Vetter, V. M., Düzel, S., Kühn, S., Deecke, L., Steinhagen-Thiessen, E., Jawinski, P., Markett, S., Lindenberger, U., Lill, C. M., Bertram, L., Demuth, I., & Gerstorf, D. (2025). There Are Multiple Clocks That Time Us: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Among 14 Alternative Indicators of Age and Aging. Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 80(6), Artikel glae244. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glae244

@article{cb6a6c8e2ac4405c91d6980bfd32ce0c,

title = "There Are Multiple Clocks That Time Us: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Among 14 Alternative Indicators of Age and Aging",

abstract = "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.",

author = "Johanna Drewelies and Jan Homann and Vetter, \{Valentin Max\} and Sandra D{\"u}zel and Simone K{\"u}hn and Laura Deecke and Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen and Philippe Jawinski and Sebastian Markett and Ulman Lindenberger and Lill, \{Christina M.\} and Lars Bertram and Ilja Demuth and Denis Gerstorf",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Gerontological Society of America.",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/gerona/glae244",

language = "English",

volume = "80",

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Drewelies, J, Homann, J, Vetter, VM, Düzel, S, Kühn, S, Deecke, L, Steinhagen-Thiessen, E, Jawinski, P, Markett, S, Lindenberger, U, Lill, CM, Bertram, L, Demuth, I & Gerstorf, D 2025, 'There Are Multiple Clocks That Time Us: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Among 14 Alternative Indicators of Age and Aging', Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, Jg. 80, Nr. 6, glae244. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glae244

There Are Multiple Clocks That Time Us: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Among 14 Alternative Indicators of Age and Aging. / Drewelies, Johanna; Homann, Jan; Vetter, Valentin Max et al.
in: Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, Jahrgang 80, Nr. 6, glae244, 01.06.2025.

Publikation: Beiträge in Fachzeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › Begutachtung

TY - JOUR

T1 - There Are Multiple Clocks That Time Us

T2 - Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Among 14 Alternative Indicators of Age and Aging

AU - Drewelies, Johanna

AU - Homann, Jan

AU - Vetter, Valentin Max

AU - Düzel, Sandra

AU - Kühn, Simone

AU - Deecke, Laura

AU - Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth

AU - Jawinski, Philippe

AU - Markett, Sebastian

AU - Lindenberger, Ulman

AU - Lill, Christina M.

AU - Bertram, Lars

AU - Demuth, Ilja

AU - Gerstorf, Denis

PY - 2025/6/1

Y1 - 2025/6/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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U2 - 10.1093/gerona/glae244

DO - 10.1093/gerona/glae244

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 39383103

AN - SCOPUS:105006732121

SN - 1079-5006

VL - 80

JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences

JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences

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