A new ‘ageing clock’ powered by MRI scans can now reveal your biological ageing rate – and what it could mean for your future health.

A team of international researchers has developed a cutting-edge tool that can estimate how fast your body is ageing – just from a single MRI scan of your brain.

Developed by scientists from Duke University, Harvard University, and the University of Otago in New Zealand, the tool is called DunedinPACNI (short for Pace of Aging Computed from NeuroImaging).

Unlike traditional age predictors based on your birth date, DunedinPACNI measures your biological ageing rate, which can forecast future risks of dementia, chronic disease, and even early death.

“What’s really cool about this is that we’ve captured how fast people are ageing using data collected in midlife,” said Professor Ahmad Hariri from Duke University.

“And it’s helping us predict diagnosis of dementia among people who are much older.”

How it works

The researchers drew from the world-renowned Dunedin Study, which has tracked 1,037 people born in 1972-73 in New Zealand for over 50 years.

By analysing biomarkers like blood pressure, cholesterol, kidney and lung function, glucose levels and even dental health, they calculated a Pace of Ageing score for each person.

DunedinPACNI takes this a step further by applying that information to brain scans. The result? A non-invasive, MRI-based algorithm that can now estimate your biological ageing rate – and it’s freely available for researchers to use on GitHub.

What makes this tool different?

This is not the first “ageing clock” the team has built. Their earlier version, DunedinPACE, was based on DNA methylation – but that required expensive genetic testing and wasn’t available to everyone.

DunedinPACNI, however, can be used on standard MRI scans – meaning it could be adopted quickly by existing brain health studies and clinics around the world.

Why it matters

For those in midlife and beyond, this tool could help flag health risks long before symptoms appear – potentially opening the door to early prevention or intervention.

But it also raises a fascinating question:

Would you want to know how fast your body is ageing – especially if you feel perfectly healthy?

It’s a deeply personal choice. For some, the knowledge could be empowering. For others, it may feel like peeking too far into the future.

Either way, as technology advances, tools like DunedinPACNI are making personalised health prediction more accessible than ever.