Language Fluency and Premature Brain Aging

Age‐related changes in the brain are often associated with general cognitive decline. Cognitive aging affects the ability to produce spoken language, with older adults experiencing increased difficulties in word‐finding1 and verbal fluency2,3. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease are often attributed to an acceleration of typical aging processes (i.e., premature aging). Accelerated age‐related atrophy is present in mild cognitive impairment4,5 and premature brain aging may contribute to declining cognitive skills6,7. A recent study demonstrated that the disparity between chronological age and brain age (based on measures of cortical integrity) is a good predictor of early cognitive impairment8. Our aim was to extend these findings by investigating the role of brain age in overall cognition as well as language in particular.