Understanding the Link Between Psychopathology, Biological Aging, and Mortality Risk with Dr. Hawn

Join us in this fascinating episode with Dr. Hawn as we delve into the realm of psychopathology, biological aging, and mortality. Psychopathology is often linked to faster biological aging and premature death. Dr. Hawn and her team's pioneering research have sought to better understand these relationships. They have examined associations between broad dimensions of psychopathology, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and GrimAge, a DNA methylation biomarker indicative of mortality risk relative to age. The research has also focused on understanding the neurobiological correlates of GrimAge, including neurocognitive functioning, inflammation, neuropathology, metabolic disease, and cortical thickness. Their findings show that externalizing psychopathology significantly predicts GrimAge, while PTSD appears to be linked to GrimAge in younger but not older cohorts. Also, GrimAge is associated with a variety of neurobiological variables, including cognitive disinhibition, memory recall, cardiometabolic pathology, oxidative stress, astrocyte damage, inflammation, and immune function. Tune in as we unpack these intriguing findings, and how they might aid in early disease identification and treatment.Key Words: Psychopathology, biological aging, mortality risk, GrimAge, PTSD, neurobiological correlates, neurocognitive functioning, inflammation, neuropathology, metabolic disease, cortical thickness, cardiometabolic pathology, oxidative stress, astrocyte damage, immune functioning, emotion regulation, facial recognition, disease identification, disease treatment.Hawn, et al. For whom the bell tolls: psychopathological and neurobiological correlates of a DNA methylation index of time-to-death. Transl Psychiatry(2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-02164-w