Examining the influence of musical sophistication, cognitive performance, and social skills on the Brain Age Gap Estimate (BrainAGE).

Alisha D Davis, Negin Motamed Yeganeh, Nancy Hermiston, Janet F Werker, Lara A Boyd, Sarah N Kraeutner, Anja-Xiaoxing Cui

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Article in Brain structure & function, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Alisha D DavisNeuroplasticity, Imagery, and Motor Behaviour Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada.

Negin Motamed YeganehBrain Behaviour Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Nancy HermistonSchool of Music, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Janet F WerkerDepartment of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Lara A BoydBrain Behaviour Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Sarah N KraeutnerNeuroplasticity, Imagery, and Motor Behaviour Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada.

Anja-Xiaoxing CuiDepartment of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. anja-xiaoxing.cui@univie.ac.at.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Brain age, an estimate of biological brain aging derived from neuroimaging, has been linked to cognitive and related factors. Metrics such as the Brain Age Gap Estimate (BrainAGE), depicting the discrepancy between predicted and chronological age, are commonly used to determine the influence of variables on brain aging. This study explored how cognitive ability, musical sophistication, and social skills contribute to BrainAGE in a sample of 81 healthy participants who underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and completed cognitive, musical, and social assessments. Following statistical analyses to fit the model, structural equation modelling was used to examine the influence of cognitive ability, assessed using the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, California Verbal Learning Test, and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale; musical sophistication, measured by the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index; and social skills, evaluated using the Social Skills Inventory, on BrainAGE. Our findings demonstrated no significant influence of cognitive ability, musical expertise, or social skills on BrainAGE. These findings highlight the complexity of cognitive and social influences on brain age and underscore the need for further research into their interactive effects on neurobiological aging.

Indexed as

AgingBrainCognitionMusicSocial SkillsAdultAgedExecutive FunctionFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsYoung AdultBrain aging, BrainAGE, musical sophistication, cognitive ability, social skills

Identifiers

PMID40788506

DOI10.1007/s00429-025-03001-8

PMCPMC12339644

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LicenceCC BY

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.