Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports
Volume
5
Issue
1
First Page
443
Last Page
468
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
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.
DOI
10.3233/ADR-210005
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