A new study suggests that electrocardiogram (ECG) tests, combined with artificial intelligence (AI), could one day help detect premature aging and cognitive decline. The findings were presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2025.
Understanding ECG and Its Link to Aging
An ECG is a simple test that records the electrical activity of the heart. With each heartbeat, an electrical signal moves through the heart, and this pattern can provide important health information.
In this study, researchers used AI to analyze ECG data and estimate a person’s biological age—how old their cells and tissues appear to be, rather than their actual age.
According to lead researcher Bernard Ofosuhene from the UMass Chan Medical School, ECG-based age, or ECG-age, reflects the condition of the heart and possibly the entire body. Unlike chronological age (the number of years a person has lived), ECG-age might offer clues about overall health and aging.
Previous studies have shown that ECG-age can help predict heart disease and even death. However, until now, little was known about whether ECG-age is related to brain function and cognitive decline.
How the Study Was Conducted
The researchers analyzed data from over 63,000 participants in the UK Biobank, a large, long-term study of people in the United Kingdom. The participants, aged 43 to 85, underwent ECG tests and completed a series of cognitive assessments to measure thinking and memory skills.
Using AI, the researchers estimated each person’s ECG-age and compared it to their actual age. Based on the results, participants were divided into three groups:
- Normal aging – Their ECG-age matched their real age.
- Accelerated aging – Their ECG-age was older than their real age.
- Decelerated aging – Their ECG-age was younger than their real age.
Key Findings
When the researchers compared cognitive test scores across the three groups, they found:
- People with younger ECG-ages (meaning their biological age was lower than their actual age) performed better on six out of eight cognitive tests.
- People with older ECG-ages (meaning they were aging faster at a biological level) performed worse on six out of eight cognitive tests.
This suggests that biological aging, as measured by ECG-age, is closely linked to cognitive ability.
Why This Matters
These findings highlight a growing connection between heart health and brain health. Ofosuhene encourages doctors to look at ECG data for signs of cognitive decline, as it could lead to earlier detection and treatment.
Dr. Fernando Testai, a professor of neurology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, believes this research has exciting possibilities. “Using ECG data to assess cognitive ability may seem futuristic, but if validated, it could have important benefits,” he said.
For example:
- ECG-based cognitive testing could be done remotely, using wearable devices, making it more accessible for people in rural areas or those without access to specialists.
- It could be faster and more objective than traditional cognitive tests, which often require detailed assessments.
- It might help predict future cognitive decline, allowing for earlier interventions.
Limitations and Future Research
The study has some limitations. Since the data was collected from adults aged 43 to 85, the findings may not apply to younger people. Also, since the study only measured participants at one point in time, it does not show how cognitive function changes over time.
Researchers now plan to explore whether gender differences affect the relationship between ECG-age and cognitive ability. They also hope to test their findings on more diverse populations, as most participants in this study were of European ancestry.
What’s Next?
This study adds to the growing understanding of how heart health is linked to brain function. If further research confirms these findings, ECG tests could become a simple, widely available tool for detecting early signs of cognitive decline.
This could help doctors identify at-risk individuals and take steps to slow aging and brain-related diseases like dementia.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that vitamin K helps cut heart disease risk by a third, and a year of exercise reversed worrisome heart failure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about supplements that could help prevent heart disease, stroke, and results showing this food ingredient may strongly increase heart disease death risk.
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