Lifelong behavioral screen reveals an architecture of vertebrate aging

Science (New York, N.Y.)
 |
Claire N Bedbrook, Ravi D Nath, Libby Zhang, Scott W Linderman, Anne Brunet, Karl Deisseroth

Science. 2026 Mar 12;391(6790):eaea9795. doi: 10.1126/science.aea9795. Epub 2026 Mar 12.

ABSTRACT

Mapping behavior of individual vertebrate animals across lifespan could provide an unprecedented view into the lifelong process of aging. We created a platform for high-resolution continuous behavioral tracking of the African killifish across natural lifespan from adolescence to death. We found that animals follow distinct individual aging trajectories. The behaviors of long-lived animals differed markedly from those of short-lived animals, even relatively early in life, and were linked to organ-specific transcriptomic shifts. Machine-learning models accurately inferred age and even forecasted an individual's future lifespan, given only behavior at a young age. Finally, we found that animals progressed through adulthood in a sequence of stable and stereotyped behavioral stages with abrupt transitions, revealing precise structure for an architecture of aging.

PMID:41818367 | DOI:10.1126/science.aea9795