EEG-predicted brain age in young adults with cognitive deficits and mental health conditions
In this abstract, EEG-based functional connectivity was used to estimate brain age; higher estimated brain age was linked to lower memory and attention scores, and most young adults with mental symptoms had higher brain age than their chronological age. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
Brain age was estimated from EEG-based functional connectivity; prediction error was 5.97 mean absolute error in training data and 10.73 in prediction data. [1]
Increased brain age was negatively related to memory and attention task scores, and 19 of 26 young adults with mental symptoms had higher brain age than chronological age. [1]
Frontal and central motor connectivity distinguished high and low brain age and correlated with brain age but not chronological age. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Abstract of a study estimating brain age from EEG-based functional connectivity
- Population / context
- Healthy adults, including young adults with mental symptoms such as addictions, depression, phobia and anorexia nervosa.
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Publication status
- Preprint · peer-review status not confirmed
- Original publication
- September 24, 2026
EEG brain-age estimates in healthy adults
The abstract describes a study relating brain age, estimated from EEG-based functional connectivity, to cognitive and mental manifestations in healthy adults. Prediction errors were reported separately for training data (mean absolute error 5.97, R-squared 0.85) and prediction data (mean absolute error 10.73, R-squared 0.56). The abstract does not report sample size for the overall cohort, follow-up or how the EEG recordings were collected.
Supporting source [1]
Higher brain age and cognitive and mental symptoms
Increased brain age was negatively related to scores on memory and attention tasks. Most young adults with mental symptoms — 19 of 26 — had higher brain age than their chronological age; the symptoms named were addictions, depression, phobia and anorexia nervosa. Alcohol consumption was also significantly correlated with the difference between brain and chronological age. These are associations in the abstract, not evidence that brain age causes these conditions.
Supporting source [1]
Frontal and central motor connectivity as key features
Functional connectivity of frontal and central motor regions differed most between individuals with high and low brain age. These regions were significantly correlated with brain age but not with chronological age, which the authors interpret as a relatively stronger relationship with biological age. Additional analyses removing parts of the data confirmed the importance of the frontal brain and of all EEG frequency bands for prediction. The abstract does not report whether the findings were tested in an independent sample.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
This explainer is based only on the abstract; the full text was not reviewed. The abstract does not report the overall sample size, follow-up, EEG recording details or independent validation. The findings are associations, not evidence of causation, and the abstract does not establish that brain age predicts future health outcomes.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Phang C, Miao G, Cai L, Rao H, Du J. · europepmc.org · September 24, 2026