Researchers have found that people who engage in more frequent enriching leisure activities, from museum visits to music to regular exercise, show signs of slower biological aging with cutting-edge epigenetic clocks.
Research: Does leisure activity influence epigenetic aging? An analysis of arts engagement and physical activity in the UK Household Longitudinal Survey. Image credit: Bangkok Click Studio/Shutterstock.com
recent innovation in aging This study investigates whether leisure activities such as artistic and physical activities are associated with the aging process.
Measuring epigenetic mechanisms, lifestyle factors, and biological aging
As the proportion of older people around the world increases, attention is shifting from simply extending lifespans to extending healthy lifespans. Current priorities are focused on minimizing disease, maintaining independence, and reducing burden on the healthcare system.
Molecular biology has revealed fundamental mechanisms that promote aging, in which epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, chromatin remodeling, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA activity play a central role. Environmental stress disrupts these epigenetic patterns over time, increasing the risk of genomic instability, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.
Biohorology uses molecular aging clocks to estimate biological age by analyzing DNA methylation at key CpG sites. Early clocks measured chronological age, but newer versions incorporate phenotypic traits, lifespan predictors, and aging rates. Although the criteria and causal relationships continue to be debated, aging clocks are widely used to study and guide biological aging interventions.
Lifestyle factors such as avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol intake, maintaining a healthy weight, following a Mediterranean diet, managing stress, and practicing meditation may slow epigenetic aging, but the evidence is still preliminary and many leisure activities have not been well studied.
Arts and cultural engagement (ACEng) is increasingly recognized as a health behavior that enhances mental and physical well-being by providing social, cognitive, and sensory stimulation. Experimental studies, particularly in music, suggest that ACEng can influence gene expression. For example, music has been shown to influence gene pathways associated with dopamine signaling, neuroplasticity, neurogenesis, and anti-inflammatory pathways. Despite these findings, population-level evidence linking ACEng and epigenetic aging is lacking.
Although physical activity (PA) can experimentally alter DNA methylation and reduce epigenetic mutational load, observational studies linking PA and epigenetic clocks remain rare, small, inconclusive, and often omit key confounders. Previous studies have also yielded mixed results depending on the epigenetic clock examined. A comprehensive, multi-clock, and causally robust approach is required to clarify these relationships.
Assessing the influence of lifestyle on epigenetic aging
The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) is a national survey that has followed 40,000 households in the UK since 2009. The analysis profiled DNA methylation (DNAm) in 3,654 white European adults from blood samples taken between 2010 and 2012. After quality control, 3,556 participants with complete data remained. More than 850,000 methylation sites were evaluated. DNA methylation analysis was limited to participants of Caucasian European ancestry, which may affect the generalizability of the findings.
UKHLS features seven epigenetic clocks from three generations of DNAm data. First-generation clocks estimate chronological age, second-generation clocks integrate mortality and disease risk, and third-generation clocks quantify the rate of biological aging. First and second generation watches report age in years. Third generation watches reflect the pace of aging.
ACEng was measured by self-reported participation in arts, heritage, and cultural activities during the past year. Frequency was categorized into four categories: ≤2 times/year, 3–4 times/year, monthly, and weekly. Diversity was calculated as the total number of activities grouped into quartiles. PA was assessed by various reported intensities of sports. The most frequently reported activities reflected the frequency of PA.
Higher levels of leisure activity slow epigenetic aging
The mean age of the analytic sample was 52.1 years compared to 47.5 years in the original sample, and 10.9% were single (versus 22.5% in the original sample). Other demographic and socio-economic characteristics were similar. Participation rates in ACEng were high, with 82% of participants participating in 3 or more activities and 27.9% participating in 11 or more activities. More than 75% attended ACEng monthly or weekly. In contrast, 19.3% of participants reported no PA, and almost half participated in PA weekly, but less than one-third participated in four or more PA activities.
Higher frequency and diversity of ACEng and PA were associated with slower epigenetic aging as measured in second- and third-generation clocks (PhenoAge, DunedinPoAm, and DunedinPACE), but not in first-generation clocks. Therefore, this association was primarily observed in a new epigenetic clock designed to reflect health decline and the pace of aging, rather than just chronological age.
In PhenoAge, monthly ACEng was associated with a 0.8-year decrease in epigenetic age, whereas weekly ACEng was associated with a 1.02-year decrease. In DunedinPoAm and DunedinPACE, higher frequency of ACEng was associated with slower rates of biological aging, ranging from 0.01 to 0.04 years per calendar year.
In DunedinPoAm and DunedinPACE, increasing ACEng diversity reduced PhenoAge by up to 0.96 years and slowed the rate of biological aging by 0.02 to 0.04 years per year. Frequency of PA showed no association with first-generation clocks, but weekly PA was associated with a 0.59-year decrease in PhenoAge. Monthly and weekly PA was also associated with delaying epigenetic aging progression by 0.01 to 0.04 years per year in DunedinPoAm and DunedinPACE.
Increased PA diversity was associated with a 0.76-year decrease in PhenoAge and slower epigenetic aging by 0.02-0.05 years per year in DunedinPoAm and DunedinPACE. High PA activity corresponded to a reduction in PhenoAge of up to 1.34 years, and all activity levels were associated with slower epigenetic aging by 0.01 to 0.05 years per year. These associations remained strong even after controlling for behavioral and health factors and were more pronounced among participants aged 40 years and older. However, epigenetic measurements are obtained from blood samples and may not fully capture age-related changes that occur in other tissues, such as muscle.
conclusion
The current study provides preliminary evidence linking ACEng to epigenetic aging and highlights the potential for ACEng to contribute to healthy biological aging alongside other lifestyle factors. The diversity and frequency of engagement with ACEng both appear to be important, with effect sizes comparable to that of PA. These findings suggest that ACEng may be further investigated as part of broader healthy aging public health strategies.
Recent studies suggest that epigenetic aging may be modifiable or partially reversible in some cases, and the influence of leisure behavior on these processes remains unclear. Future intervention studies are needed to determine whether lifestyle modifications can slow or reverse biological aging.
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