16 December 2025, by Yannik Wiedenbeck

We are pleased to present a new study by Katharina Förster, published in the journal *Molecular Psychiatry*. Using machine learning, the study examines the extent to which the “brain age gap” (BAG)—the difference between chronological age and the age estimated from structural MRI scans—is associated with long-term outcomes in affective disorders (major depression and bipolar disorder). The data suggest that a recurrent course of the disorder is associated with a larger BAG at baseline. A higher BAG may make patients more vulnerable to an unfavorable disease course and could therefore be a relevant predictor of the future trajectory of the disorder.

The study was published according to Open Science principles: both the datasets used and all analysis scripts are publicly available as Open Data and Open Script (click here).

Förster, K., Winter, N.R., Ernsting, J. et al. (2025). MRI-derived estimation of biological aging in patients with affective disorders in a 9-year follow-up - a prospective marker of future recurrence. Mol Psychiatry.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-025-03382-6