That suggested the adult thymus is far more important than previously appreciated." The AI could then generate a thymic health score – a kind of proxy for how functional the thymus was in adulthood – classifying each person as having either low, average, or high thymic health. Follow-up data from each cohort showed that thymic health was linked with dramatically altered health outcomes in the years following the CT scans. Illustrations of three representative examples of individuals with high, average, or low thymic health. Aerts' team found that several lifestyle and health factors were linked to having poorer thymic health, including smoking, obesity, and chronic inflammation.