Trauma-exposed veterans show accelerated brain aging on MRI that widens over 18 months

In 79 trauma-exposed veterans, predicted brain age was 4.8 years older than chronological age at baseline (p<0.0001), widening to 6.5 years at 18 months. The accelerated aging trajectory was not correlated with PTSD or postconcussive symptom severity, suggesting trauma itself ma…

• Prospective longitudinal cohort (N=79) with structural MRI at 0, 9, and 18 months; brain age estimated via deep learning (DeepBrainNet).
• Brain age gap progressed from 4.8 years (baseline) to 5.4 years (9 mo) to 6.5 years (18 mo) relative to chronological age.
• Mild-to-moderate PTSD, depressive, and postconcussive symptoms remained stable and were not correlated with the brain aging rate; limited by small sample size and lack of a non-trauma control group.

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