HEAVY ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN MIDLIFE IS ASSOCIATED WITH ACCELERATED BRAIN AGING SIX YEARS LATER

Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with cognitive decline, exacerbated brain atrophy, and dementia in older adults, but associations with midlife brain health are less well understood. We hypothesized that heavy drinkers would have older-looking brains in late midlife. We examined alcohol consumption at mean age 56 (range 51-59) in 364 men from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA) and their predicted brain age at mean age 62...