AI-powered MRI study finds link between smoking and early signs of brain aging in 10,000+ healthy adults
Redwood City, CA — [July 23] — Prenuvo, the leading whole body MRI for proactive health screening, today announced its research has been published in Nature Partner Journal – Dementia (npj-Dementia). The research reveals a strong association between cigarette smoking and brain atrophy in a cohort of 10,134 healthy adults scanned using Prenuvo’s full-body MRI platform. Led by Dr. Somayeh Meysami, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosciences at Saint John’s Cancer Institute and Clinical Research Scientist at the Pacific Brain Health Center, Pacific Neuroscience Institute (PNI), the study utilized advanced structural MRI and deep learning segmentation to show how smoking is linked to regions of the brain commonly affected in Alzheimer’s disease.
The full list of collaborators include: Somayeh Meysami, Saurabh Garg, Sam Hashemi, Nasrin Akbari, Ahmed Gouda, Yosef Gavriel Chodakiewitz, Thanh Duc Nguyen, Rajpaul Attariwala, Kellyann Niotis, David A. Merrill, and Cyrus A. Raji.
The research found that individuals with any history of smoking (measured by pack-years) had notably lower gray and white matter volumes compared to non-smokers. Greater cumulative exposure (more pack-years) significantly predicted volume reductions in key brain regions, including the temporal lobe, parietal lobe, hippocampus, precuneus, and posterior cingulate. The analysis also highlighted body mass index (BMI) as a contributing factor, suggesting that higher BMI may amplify the negative impact of smoking on brain structure.
“Our results clearly show that smoking significantly impacts brain health by its link to increased brain atrophy in areas critical to cognitive function,” said Dr. Somayeh Meysami, MD, lead author of the study. “These findings reinforce the urgent need for preventive measures addressing both smoking cessation and healthy weight management.”
Senior author Cyrus A. Raji, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis added, “This work underscores the interconnected nature of lifestyle factors like smoking and obesity in accelerating brain aging. Understanding these relationships provides an essential foundation for developing targeted strategies aimed at preventing dementia and preserving cognitive health.”
The study’s design, utilizing a large sample size and sophisticated neuroimaging, makes a significant contribution to public health by identifying modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia. Future research will further explore how interventions targeting smoking and BMI might mitigate or even reverse these adverse effects.
“This is exactly the kind of insight that wasn’t measurable before. By combining high-fidelity imaging with the largest dataset of healthy brain scans and intelligent, accurate, and reproducible measurement of small brain structure using AI, we’re now able to quantify subtle but critical effects – like smoking-induced brain atrophy – with unprecedented clarity,” said Sam Hashemi, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence & Research at Prenuvo. “It’s a window into what becomes possible when AI meets population-scale precision imaging, opening the door to earlier detection, targeted prevention, and a deeper understanding of cognitive aging.”
For more information on the study, read the whole study here.
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About Prenuvo
Prenuvo makes MRI scanning for early detection of many types of cancer and many other diseases seamless and more widely accessible. Combining cutting-edge analysis technology with radiation-free and non-invasive whole body scans, Prenuvo’s patient-centric design is optimized to assess the body holistically and in under 60 minutes, compared with the several hours it would take to achieve this level of insight from conventional MRI scans. Prenuvo’s team of 100+ radiologists specializes in whole body MRI screenings to risk-stratify each patient report, keeping in mind healthcare complexities from the patient’s perspective, the treating clinician’s perspective, and the healthcare system’s perspective.
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