Fifteen years of the Australian imaging, biomarkers and lifestyle (AIBL) study: Progress and observations from 2,359 older adults spanning the spectrum from cognitive normality to Alzheimer's disease

Authors/Creators

• Christopher Fowler
• Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Sabine Bird, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Julia Bomke
• Pierrick Bourgeat
• Belinda M. Brown
• Samantha C. Burnham
• Ashley I. Bush
• Carolyn Chadunow
• Steven Collins
• James Doecke
• Vincent Doré
• Kathryn A. Ellis
• Lis Evered
• Amir Fazlollahi
• Jurgen Fripp
• Samantha L. Gardener, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Simon Gibson
• Robert Grenfell
• Elise Harrison
• Richard Head
• Liang Jin
• Adrian Kamer
• Fiona Lamb
• Nicola T. Lautenschlager
• Simon M. Laws, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Qiao-Xin Li
• Lucy Lim, Edith Cowan University
• Yen Ying Lim
• Andrea Louey
• S. Lance Macaulay
• Lucy Mackintosh
• Ralph N. Martins, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Paul Maruff
• Colin L. Masters
• Simon McBride
• Lidija Milicica
• Madeline Peretti, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Kelly Pertile
• Tenielle Porter, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Morgan Radler
• Alan Rembach
• Joanne Robertson
• Mark Rodrigues, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Christopher C. Rowe
• Rebecca Rumble
• Olivier Salvado
• Greg Savage
• Brendan Silbert
• Magdalene Soh, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Hamid R. Sohrabi
• Kevin Taddei, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Tania Taddei, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Christine Thai
• Brett Trounson
• Regan Tyrrell
• Michael Vacher
• Shiji Varghese
• Victor L. Villemagne
• Michael Weinborn, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
• Michael Woodward
• Ying Xia
• David Ames
• AIBL Investigators

Abstract

Background: The Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study commenced in 2006 as a prospective study of 1,112 individuals (768 cognitively normal (CN), 133 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 211 with Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD)) as an 'Inception cohort' who underwent detailed ssessments every 18 months. Over the past decade, an additional 1247 subjects have been added as an 'Enrichment cohort' (as of 10 April 2019). Objective: Here we provide an overview of these Inception and Enrichment cohorts of more than 8,500 person-years of investigation. Methods: Participants underwent reassessment every 18 months including comprehensive cognitive testing, neuroimaging (magnetic resonance imaging, MRI; positron emission tomography, PET), biofluid biomarkers and lifestyle evaluations. Results: AIBL has made major contributions to the understanding of the natural history of AD, with cognitive and biological definitions of its three major stages: preclinical, prodromal and clinical. Early deployment of Aβ-amyloid and tau molecular PET imaging and the development of more sensitive and specific blood tests have facilitated the assessment of genetic and environmental factors which affect age at onset and rates of progression. Conclusion: This fifteen-year study provides a large database of highly characterized individuals with longitudinal cognitive, imaging and lifestyle data and biofluid collections, to aid in the development of interventions to delay onset, prevent or treat AD. Harmonization with similar large longitudinal cohort studies is underway to further these aims.

Keywords

Alzheimer's disease, Aβ-amyloid imaging, biomarkers, cognition, cohort study, lifestyle, mild cognitive impairment, observational longitudinal, preclinical Alzheimer's disease, prodromal Alzheimer's disease

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2021

Volume

5

Issue

1

Publication Title

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports

Publisher

IOS Press

School

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

RAS ID

36610

Funders

National Health and Medical Research Council Funding information : https://doi.org/10.3233/ADR-210005

Grant Number

NHMRC Number : GNT1197315, GNT1162645

Grant Link

http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/GNT1162645

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Comments

Fowler, C., Rainey-Smith, S. R., Bird, S., Bomke, J., Bourgeat, P., Brown, B. M., ... Ames, D. (2021). Fifteen years of the Australian imaging, biomarkers and lifestyle (AIBL) study: Progress and observations from 2,359 older adults spanning the spectrum from cognitive normality to Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports, 5(1), 443-468. https://doi.org/10.3233/ADR-210005

First Page

443

Last Page

468