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The Rhineland Study is a prospective cohort study, which began in March 2016. It will include up to 30,000 participants from Bonn and asses their physical and mental health over their lifespan. The study is scheduled to run for decades and participants will be re-examined every 3-4 years.

As neurodegenerative diseases and their pathologies develop over a long time before first symptoms start to show, the Rhineland Study will include men and women aged 30 years and above regardless of their health status.
The main aims of the study are:

1. To investigate modifiable and non-modifiable causes of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases
2. To find biomarkers/(multimodal) biomarker profiles to identify individuals at risk for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric disease, who might benefit from preventive interventions
3. To investigate (patho)physiology over the adult life course, with specific emphasis on brain-related outcomes.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The original aim of the Metropolit cohort was to follow men from early school age to early mid-life, to explore intergenerational mobility and differential life-chances. In 2001 the cohort was revitalised in order to study the development of chronic diseases in a life course perspective.
The Metropolit cohort comprises all 11532 men born in 1953 in the Copenhagen Metropolitan area who were living in Denmark in 1968. These men have been followed repeatedly since their birth. In brief, we have data from birth certificates (1953) which include information on birth dimensions and father’s occupation. In 1965, 7,987 participated in a school-based survey and completed tests of cognition and enquiries regarding leisure-time activities and social aspirations. Data from draft board examinations at around age 19 have been collected for 11,108 of the men. These data include cognitive testing and health information. In 2004, 6,292 of the men responded to a mailed questionnaire with questions on health and lifestyle. In 2009-2010, 2486 of 7799 eligible cohort members participated in the Copenhagen Ageing Midlife Biobank (CAMB) study which comprised questionnaires, cognitive and physical testing as well as blood sampling. Further, around 300 men selected on their young adult and current cognitive performance have been through a neurophysiological examination including EEG, MRI, fMRI and sleep tests. The cohort has also been followed in nation-wide social and health registers for social life, medical and mental hospital diagnosis as well as cause of death from 1969 to 2016.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is a prospective cohort with more than 521,000 study participants enrolled from 23 centres in 10 western European countries. Detailed information on diet, lifestyle characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and medical history was collected at recruitment (1992-1999).

Biological samples including plasma, serum, leukocytes, and erythrocytes were also collected at baseline from 387,889 individuals and are stored at the International Agency for Research on Cancer – World Health Organization (IARC-WHO) and mirrored at EPIC collaborating centres. Overall, the EPIC biorepositories host more than 9 million aliquots, constituting one of the largest biobanks in the world for biochemical and genetic investigations on cancer and other chronic diseases. Follow-up measures of lifestyle exposures have been collected and will be centralized at IARC in 2016.

Last update – 25/04/2017

TRACK-HD was a prospective observational biomarker study in participants with premanifest and early Huntington’s disease (HD). Track-HD assessed longitudinal data collected at baseline, 12 months, 24 and 36 months at sites in Leiden (Netherlands), London (UK), Paris (France), and Vancouver (Canada). Participants were individuals without HD but carrying the mutant HTT gene (ie, premanifest HD), patients with early HD, and healthy control individuals matched by age and sex to the combined HD groups. Data were collected with 3T MRI, clinical, cognitive, quantitative motor, oculomotor, and neuropsychiatric assessments. TrackOn-HD followed on from TRACK-HD aiming to investigate compensatory mechanisms in premanifest gene carriers. Baseline, 12 and 24 month data was collected from the same four sites on premanifest gene carriers and healthy controls including 3T MRI, task and resting state fMRI, DTI, clinical, cognitive, quantitative motor and neuropsychiatric assessments.

Last update – 11/04/2017

GENDER is a study of unlike-sex twin pairs born between 1906 and 1925 (Gold et al., 2002). A survey concerning health and health behavior was mailed in 1994 with responses from 1,210 twins from 605 pairs where both responded. Mean age at baseline questionnaire assessment was 74.43 (SD 4.28) and all are Caucasians. A baseline in-person evaluation of 498 twins from 249 pairs between 70 and 80 years of age was undertaken between 1995 and 1997, and included an interview and tests of cognitive and physical functioning. Two additional in-person waves followed at 4-year intervals. Finally, a second survey was mailed in 2007 to all living twins who participated in the first mailed survey.

Last update – 04/03/2017

Aims & objective

To find out the known as well as some new factors which increase the risk of occurrence of stroke (half body paralysis, Lakwa) and of memory problem and other brain related problems.
To identify a group of apparently healthy people (50 years and above), carry out their health check up and follow them up over several years to detect any health problems (like heart attack, lakwa, memory problems) with increasing age.
To investigate the prevalence and incidence of and risk factors for stroke and cognitive decline in the elderly.

Updates about the health of the participants will be obtained from telephone follow-ups every six months and physical check-ups every three years. The study is expected to last for at least 10 years.

Last update – 02/02/2017

CFAS Wales aims to interview a representative sample of 3,750 people aged 65 and over in two areas in Wales (Gwynedd and Swansea). Using established and standardised techniques it will collect data that will enable the investigation of cognitive impairment, depression, physical disability and healthy active life expectancy for the whole group and within social groups. It will provide a foundation for other collaborative studies that investigate biomarkers and other early indications of risk of cognitive decline, such as imaging. It will investigate factors that may delay the onset of dementia, specifically focussing on the role of bilingualism and social networks. As the participants reside in a bilingual area this is a key opportunity.

Last update – 13/02/2017

The HELIAD is a population-based, multidisciplinary, collaborative study designed to estimate the prevalence and incidence of AD, other dementias, mild cognitive impairment, and other neuropsychiatric conditions of aging in the Greek population and to investigate associations between nutrition and cognitive dysfunction/age-related neuropsychiatric diseases in this Mediterranean population.

The participants in the HELIAD study were selected through random sampling from community-dwelling individuals over the age of 65 years in the cities of Larissa (located in the province of Thessaly in Central Greece and Marousi (located within the Athens Metropolitan area). The targeted sample of enrolled participants comprised approximately 2,500 individuals. No weighting or stratified sampling (according to age, gender, or education) was performed. Follow-ups with face-to-face interviews at ~3 year intervals.

Last update – 01/02/2017

The HCS is a population-based cohort study established to assess factors important in the health, well-being, social functioning and economic consequences of ageing. The participants included community-dwelling men and women aged 55-85 years of age who reside in Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. They were randomly selected from the NSW State electoral roll and contacted between December 2004 and December 2007.

The participants’ study data was collected through self-report postal questionnaires which covered a wide range of variables but also linked with local and national health information databases and hospital records. These provided follow-up on use of prescription medication, health service utilization and hospitalizations, morbidity and mortality. There was also a baseline clinic visit which measured a wide variety of parameters including hearing, vision, smell, balance, cognition, and lung function. Medications and diagnoses have been collected not only at baseline but also at periodic intervals during follow-up.

Last update – 31/01/2017

The NIMROD (Neuroimaging of Inflammation in Memory and Other Disorders) study aims to understand the role of inflammation in several forms of dementia, memory loss and depression (Alzheimer’s disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Parkinsons disease dementia (PDD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), late life depression (LLD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI)). It also aims to understand the changes in the immune system, from immune cells and other components in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid.

To achieve this, NIMROD looks at brain changes in dementia, depression and related disorders in several different ways, detecting differences in brain structure and function, measuring inflammation and annual psychology and memory assessments. A further aim is to investigate if neuroinflammation can predict subsequent clinical course, including cognitive and functional decline.

Last update – 01/02/2017