Brain Health Habit Score
Brain age can only be estimated from brain scans or standardised cognitive tests. This page does not estimate a "brain age". It counts some of the modifiable risk factors that the 2024 Lancet Commission linked with dementia risk across populations.
Before you start
Method : Brain Health Habit Score — a custom points score written by this site. Each answer adds or subtracts the points shown in the Methodology table below.
Validation : Unvalidated. The points have never been tested against any laboratory measurement or health outcome, and the result is not an age.
Review : not reviewed by a qualified clinician. Educational only — not a diagnosis or a medical test.
If you or others notice memory or thinking getting worse, see a doctor; a questionnaire cannot rule anything in or out.
Your answers stay in this browser tab; nothing is sent or stored.
Answer the questions, then press Calculate score.
How to Use This Calculator
- Answer each question.
- Press Calculate score.
- Read the breakdown and suggestions.
Methodology & assumptions
Your score is the sum of the points below. The weights are our own judgement. The old version added years for self-rated memory, "mental stimulation" and similar answers and gave a "brain age". Self-rated memory is not a measurement, so it was removed; the remaining questions follow factors named in the Lancet Commission report.
| Factor | Answer | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Physical activity | Little or none | +2 |
| 1–2 days a week | +1 | |
| 3–4 days a week | 0 | |
| 5+ days a week | 0 | |
| Smoking | Never | 0 |
| Former | 0 | |
| Current | +2 | |
| Alcohol (drinks a week) | None | 0 |
| 1–7 | 0 | |
| 8–14 | +1 | |
| More than 14 | +2 | |
| Hearing difficulty not treated with hearing aids | No, or I use hearing aids | 0 |
| Yes | +2 | |
| Contact with friends or family | Most weeks | 0 |
| Rarely — often isolated | +1 | |
| Low mood or depression lasting weeks | No | 0 |
| Yes, untreated | +1 | |
| High blood pressure | No / controlled | 0 |
| Not checked in 5 years | +1 | |
| Yes, not controlled | +2 | |
| Sleep per night | Under 6 hours | +1 |
| 6–9 hours | 0 | |
| Over 9 hours | 0 |
Worked examples
Sedentary, smokes, more than 14 drinks a week, untreated hearing loss, often isolated, untreated low mood, uncontrolled blood pressure, under 6 h sleep: 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 = +13 points.
Active, never smoked, light drinking, good hearing, regular contact, no low mood, normal blood pressure, 7 h sleep: 0 points.
Understanding your result
This counts risk factors you reported. It is not a cognitive measurement, not an age and not a personal dementia risk. Health-agency guidance linked below is general and based on populations, not on this score.
Sources & further reading
- Livingston G, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. Lancet 2024;404(10452):572-628.
- World Health Organization. Physical activity (fact sheet).
The Commission estimates population-level shares of dementia linked to 14 risk factors; it does not publish an individual points score. Our weights and selection are our own.
Frequently Asked Questions
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