Enabling a multidisciplinary approach to the study of ageing and Alzheimer's disease: An update from the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study

Document Type

Journal Article

Publisher

Informa Healthcare

Faculty

Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science

School

School of Medical Sciences / Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care

RAS ID

17254

Comments

Ellis, K., Rainey-Smith, S. R., Rembach, A., Macaulay, S., & Villemagne, V. (2013). Enabling a multidisciplinary approach to the study of ageing and Alzheimer's disease: An update from the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study. International Review of Psychiatry, 25(6), 699-710. Available here

Abstract

The Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study is a longitudinal study of 1,112 volunteers from healthy, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) populations who are assessed at 18-month intervals in order to enable prospective research into ageing and AD. Using a multidisciplinary battery, AIBL assessments comprise the extensive study of clinical factors and cognitive function, collection of blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples for biomarker discovery, structural and β-amyloid (Aβ) neuroimaging, and obtaining information on diet and physical activity patterns of the cohort. Now in its seventh year, AIBL is part of a substantial international effort to prospectively study the relationships between clinical characteristics and putative AD biomarkers in groups who carry different risk factors for AD. The identification of biomarkers would provide a window of opportunity to assess AD risk in individuals prior to the onset of advanced clinical symptoms, in addition to facilitating testing of therapeutic and lifestyle interventions likely to emerge within the next decade that prevent or delay symptom emergence in those at high risk for developing AD. In this paper, we present key findings from the AIBL study and discuss how they contribute to our understanding of AD pathogenesis and diagnosis.

DOI

10.3109/09540261.2013.870136

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