The association of DNA methylation-based epigenetic age acceleration with facial expression recognition in older adults

Background: Facial expression recognition (FER) abilities play a crucial role in fostering beneficial social relationships for healthy aging, however, these abilities tend to decline as people age. We investigated the association between epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) and FER among older individuals. Methods: Accuracy rates and response times for six emotions, anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise, were assessed in outpatients who visited the Veterans Health Service Medical Center. We calculated six EAA measures (intrinsic EAA, extrinsic EAA, PhenoAge acceleration, GrimaAge2 acceleration, skin and blood Age Acceleration, and Dunedin Pace of Aging Calculated from the Epigenome), based on DNA methylation levels across 935,000 CpGs. We employed multiple linear regression models adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic variables. Results: In men, EAA was associated with a lower accuracy rate for fear (DunedinPACE: β= -7.53, 95 % CI= -12.12, -2.95) and a higher rate for sadness (Grim2AA: β= 5.44, 95 % CI= 0.37, 10.51). In women, EAA was associated with a lower accuracy rate for anger (SBAA: β= -5.06, 95 % CI= -9.43, -0.70) and a higher rate for happiness (EEAA: β= 4.79, 95 % CI= 0.85, 8.73). In men, EAA had an association with a faster response for fear (EEAA: β= -0.24, 95 % CI= -0.44, -0.05) and in women, for all emotions except sadness. Conclusions: Greater EAA was associated with higher accuracy rates in recognizing happiness among women and sadness among men. Our findings suggest that biological aging may enhance recognition of positive emotions and empathy for others' sadness, rather than simply reducing FER abilities.