While the eye often provides clinicians with key information about neurological health, researchers have found that the reverse is also true.
The Brain Care Score (BCS) is a novel tool for assessing brain health that includes physical, lifestyle, and social-emotional factors. Higher scores on the 21-point scale indicate better brain function.
Researchers in Sichuan and Hong Kong used statistical analysis of UK Biobank participants to estimate associations between baseline BCS and incident cataract, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).1
They reported 44,033 cataract cases, 9,280 glaucoma cases, and 6,754 AMD cases over a median follow-up period of 14.28 years.
… high Brain Care Scores were linked to low age-related eye disease risk
They found that high Brain Care Scores were linked to low age-related eye disease risk; and some inverse associations were stronger in younger patients (aged 40–50), compared to older groups.
There were also significant interactions between BCS and polygenic risk score for cataract, but not for glaucoma or AMD.
They recommended further studies to explore the role of BCS in the development of age-related eye disease.
Reference
- Yu J, Gao YL, Chen LJ, et al. Association of baseline brain care score with the incidence of age-related eye diseases. Eye (Lond). 2026. Published online 4 July 2026. doi: 10.1038/s41433-026-04701-z.