ArticlePloS one2023
Telomere length and brain imaging phenotypes in UK Biobank.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Shorter Telomeres and Faster Telomere Attrition in Individuals With Five Syndromic Forms of Intellectual Disability: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2025Pooled it
- Telomere dynamics are influenced by sleep, sleep variability and circadian rhythms in older adults with or without alzheimer's risk.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Trial
- Leukocyte Telomere Length and Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Variations in Gray Matter Volume and Cortical Thickness.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Prenatal tobacco exposure and adult offspring brain health: the mediating role of leukocyte telomere length in a large population-based cohort.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Running out the clock: Circadian rhythm dysfunction in cognitive disease.International review of neurobiology · 2026Review
- Agitation, Alzheimer's disease, and autophagy: mechanistic insights into aging pathways, gut microbiome, and artificial intelligence.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Telomerase Depletion Accelerates Ageing of the Zebrafish Brain.Aging cell · 2025Article
- Cognitive outcomes of deep brain stimulation depend on age and hippocampal connectivity in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- A novel carnivorous diet reduces brain telomere length.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Premature aging and metabolic diseases: the impact of telomere attrition.Frontiers in aging · 2025Review
- Association of critically short telomeres with brain and blood markers of ageing and Alzheimer's disease in older adults.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2024Article
- Leukocyte telomere length and memory circuitry and cognition in early aging: Impact of sex and menopausal status.Hormones and behavior · 2024Article
- Linking menopause-related factors, history of depression, APOE ε4, and proxies of biological aging in the UK biobank cohort.Hormones and behavior · 2024Article
- Association between telomere length and erectile dysfunction: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- c-Jun N-terminal kinase signaling in aging.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Review
- Correlation of telomere length in brain tissue with peripheral tissues in living human subjects.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2024Article
- Review
- Involvement of Inheritance in Determining Telomere Length beyond Environmental and Lifestyle Factors.Aging and disease · 2023Review
- Cognitive Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- The impact of aging and oxidative stress in metabolic and nervous system disorders: programmed cell death and molecular signal transduction crosstalk.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Telomeres form protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, and their attrition is a marker of biological aging. Short telomeres are associated with an increased risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders including dementia. The mechanism underlying this risk is unclear, and may involve brain structure and function. However, the relationship between telomere length and neuroimaging markers is poorly characterized. Here we show that leucocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with multi-modal MRI phenotypes in 31,661 UK Biobank participants. Longer LTL is associated with: i) larger global and subcortical grey matter volumes including the hippocampus, ii) lower T1-weighted grey-white tissue contrast in sensory cortices, iii) white-matter microstructure measures in corpus callosum and association fibres, iv) lower volume of white matter hyperintensities, and v) lower basal ganglia iron. Longer LTL was protective against certain related clinical manifestations, namely all-cause dementia (HR 0.93, 95% CI: 0.91-0.96), but not stroke or Parkinson's disease. LTL is associated with multiple MRI endophenotypes of neurodegenerative disease, suggesting a pathway by which longer LTL may confer protective against dementia.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.