Contralesional brain aging links to stroke aphasia severity
In 188 individuals with chronic stroke, regional deviations from normative brain aging in the undamaged hemisphere accounted for aphasia severity and predicted post-therapy recovery.
The Journal of Neuroscience
In 188 individuals with chronic stroke (67 female, 121 male), researchers evaluated whether regional deviations from normative brain aging relate to language impairment and recovery. Using routine T1-weighted structural MRI scans, the team applied a lifespan-informed brain age model, volBrain, to quantify how undamaged regions diverged from expected aging trajectories. Regional aging deviations in the contralesional hemisphere accounted for chronic aphasia severity beyond the effects of lesion volume, lesion location, and basic demographics. In a treated subgroup, baseline brain aging patterns also predicted language gains that persisted six months after therapy.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that divergence from normative brain aging in structurally intact tissue may influence functional capacity and rehabilitation potential after neurological injury.
Caveats
The study was observational and relied on an algorithm estimating brain age from structural MRI scans rather than biological or molecular markers of aging. In addition, the predictive value for treatment response was evaluated only in a subgroup of participants.
The paper
University of South Carolina · Columbia College - South Carolina
The Journal of Neuroscience · 28 Sep 2026