Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42062774›Full record

ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2026

Development and validation of MethylCog, a blood DNA methylation proxy for cognition.

Deirdre M O'Shea, Lily Wang, David Lukacsovich, Devi Dhanekula, Wei Zhang, Conor Galvin, Mahesh Joshi, Lilah Besser, Tatjana Rundek, James E Galvin

Abstract readValidation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. MethylCog predicts six-year cognitive ability beyond blood-based ADRD biomarkers.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Deirdre M O'SheaComprehensive Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Lily WangDivision of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
David LukacsovichDivision of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
Devi DhanekulaComprehensive Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Wei ZhangDivision of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
Conor GalvinComprehensive Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Mahesh JoshiComprehensive Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Lilah BesserComprehensive Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Tatjana RundekDepartment of Neurology and Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
James E GalvinComprehensive Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.

Funding

HRS Yrs29-34: Y33 SSA CoFundingU01AG009740 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Jessica Faul, KENNETH M LANGA · 1990 to 2026
$555.8M
Multicultural Community Dementia ScreeningR01AG071514 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI GALVIN, JAMES E · 2021 to 2025
$13.8M
Health and Retirement Study: Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP)U01AG058499 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI LANGA, KENNETH M · 2018 to 2023
$8.3M
Reducing Disparities in Dementia and VCID Outcomes in a Multicultural Rural PopulationR01NS101483 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI GALVIN, JAMES E · 2019 to 2023
$8.0M
Creating a National Resource for Genetic Research in Behavioral & Health SciencesRC2AG036495 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI WEIR, DAVID R. · 2009 to 2010
$7.4M
Expanding a National Resource for Genetic Research in Behavioral & Health ScienceRC4AG039029 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI WEIR, DAVID R. · 2010 to 2010
$6.0M
Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute K12 ProgramK12TR004555 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI ALESSIA FORNONI, Tatjana Rundek · 2023 to 2026
$3.0M
NCATS NIH HHS 1K12TR004555NCATS NIH HHS K12 TR004555NIA NIH HHS NIA U01AG009740NIA NIH HHS R01 AG071514NIA NIH HHS R01AG071514NIA NIH HHS RC2 AG036495NIA NIH HHS RC4 AG039029NIA NIH HHS U01 AG009740NIA NIH HHS U01 AG058499NIA NIH HHS U01AG058499NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS101483NINDS NIH HHS R01NS101483
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionHeterogeneity in cognitive ability increases with age and predicts mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, but scalable blood-based biomarkers are lacking. We developed and validated MethylCog, a parsimonious DNA methylation (DNAm) marker of general cognitive ability (g).

methodsMethylCog was developed using elastic net regression on principal components analysis (PCA) -derived g in a population-based cohort (n = 2,069; training/test split) externally validated (n = 112). Criterion validity, MCI discrimination, and specificity relative to GrimAge and Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers were assessed.

resultsMethylCog (29 CpGs) predicted g in the test set (R DISCUSSION: MethylCog provides initial evidence that parsimonious DNAm scores can index individual differences in cognitive ability, with potential utility where direct assessment is unavailable.

Indexed as

CognitionCognitive DysfunctionDNA MethylationAgedAged, 80 and overAlzheimer DiseaseBiomarkersFemaleHumansMaleBiomarkersAlzheimer's diseasecognitive abilityDNA methylationelastic netepigenetic biomarkerexternal validationGrimAgemild cognitive impairmentMRIplasma biomarkers

Identifiers

PMID42062774
PMCPMC13132682

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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.