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

Christopher Fowler; Stephanie R Rainey-Smith; Sabine Bird; 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; Simon Gibson; Robert Grenfell; Elise Harrison; Richard Head; Liang Jin; Adrian Kamer; Fiona Lamb; Nicola T Lautenschlager; Simon M Laws; Qiao-Xin Li; Lucy Lim; Yen Ying Lim; Andrea Louey; S Lance Macaulay; Lucy Mackintosh; Ralph N Martins; Paul Maruff; Colin L Masters; Simon McBride; Lidija Milicic; Madeline Peretti; Kelly Pertile; Tenielle Porter; Morgan Radler; Alan Rembach; Joanne Robertson; Mark Rodrigues; Christopher C Rowe; Rebecca Rumble; Olivier Salvado; Greg Savage; Brendan Silbert; Magdalene Soh; Hamid R Sohrabi; Kevin Taddei; Tania Taddei; Christine Thai; Brett Trounson; Regan Tyrrell; Michael Vacher; Shiji Varghese; Victor L Villemagne; Michael Weinborn; Michael Woodward; Ying Xia; David Ames; the AIBL investigators

doi:10.3233/ADR-210005

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

J Alzheimers Dis Rep. 2021 Jun 3;5(1):443-468. doi: 10.3233/ADR-210005. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Christopher Fowler¹, Stephanie R Rainey-Smith^{2

3

4

5}, Sabine Bird^{2

3}, Julia Bomke⁶, Pierrick Bourgeat⁶, Belinda M Brown^{3

4}, Samantha C Burnham⁶, Ashley I Bush¹, Carolyn Chadunow¹, Steven Collins¹, James Doecke^{6

7}, Vincent Doré^{6

8}, Kathryn A Ellis^{1

9

10}, Lis Evered¹¹, Amir Fazlollahi⁶, Jurgen Fripp⁶, Samantha L Gardener^{2

3}, Simon Gibson⁶, Robert Grenfell⁶, Elise Harrison¹, Richard Head⁶, Liang Jin¹, Adrian Kamer¹, Fiona Lamb⁸, Nicola T Lautenschlager⁹, Simon M Laws^{12

13}, Qiao-Xin Li¹, Lucy Lim^{2

3}, Yen Ying Lim^{1

14}, Andrea Louey¹, S Lance Macaulay⁶, Lucy Mackintosh¹, Ralph N Martins^{2

3

15}, Paul Maruff¹⁶, Colin L Masters¹, Simon McBride⁶, Lidija Milicic¹², Madeline Peretti¹², Kelly Pertile¹, Tenielle Porter^{12

13}, Morgan Radler¹, Alan Rembach¹, Joanne Robertson¹, Mark Rodrigues^{2

3}, Christopher C Rowe^{8

3}, Rebecca Rumble¹, Olivier Salvado¹⁷, Greg Savage¹⁸, Brendan Silbert¹¹, Magdalene Soh^{2

3}, Hamid R Sohrabi^{3

4

15}, Kevin Taddei^{2

3}, Tania Taddei^{2

3}, Christine Thai¹, Brett Trounson¹, Regan Tyrrell⁸, Michael Vacher⁶, Shiji Varghese¹, Victor L Villemagne^{8

19}, Michael Weinborn^{2

3

5}, Michael Woodward²⁰, Ying Xia⁶, David Ames^{1

9

21}; the AIBL investigators

Affiliations

¹ The Florey Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
² Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
³ Australian Alzheimer's Research Foundation (Ralph and Patricia Sarich Neuroscience Research Institute), Nedlands, WA, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia.
⁵ School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
⁶ Australian E-Health Research Centre, CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Herston, QLD, Australia.
⁷ Cooperative Research Council for Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁸ Department of Molecular Imaging and Therapy, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
⁹ University of Melbourne Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
¹⁰ Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia.
¹² Collaborative Genomics and Translation Group, Centre for Precision Health, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
¹³ School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia.
¹⁴ Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia.
¹⁶ Cogstate Limited, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹⁷ CSIRO Data61, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
¹⁸ Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
¹⁹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
²⁰ Department of Geriatric Medicine Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
²¹ National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), Parkville, VIC, Australia.

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.