Structural brain complexity and cognitive decline in late life : A longitudinal study in the Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort

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Cognitive Test Scores and Progressive Cognitive Decline in the Aberdeen 1921 and 1936 Birth Cohorts

Acknowledgments: We remain grateful to the kindness of the staff at the Scottish Council for Research in Education who allowed us access to their archive and remained supportive and gracious throughout our collaboration. We thank the many people of Aberdeen who volunteered generously and committed to the long-term success of this program. We thank Victoria Bourne, who made substantial contributions to study design, data collection, data analysis and hypothesis generation. Jen Herbert (deceased) recruited the ABC36 participants, collected data (sessions I and II) and, through her encouragement and professionalism, ensured the continued involvement of many participants. She was much loved by participants and the study team. Funding: The Aberdeen Birth Cohort 1921 and 1936 research program was established in 1997 with funding from the Henry Smith (Kensington Estates) Charity and continued by The UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (1999–2002), The Wellcome Trust (2001–2006), The Scottish Government (2000–2002), the Medical Research Council (2003), Alzheimer Research UK (2002–2005) and the University of Aberdeen Development Trust (2007–2010, 2014).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Aspirin moderates the association between cardiovascular risk, brain white matter hyperintensity total lesion volume and processing speed in normal ageing

ABC1936 was funded (1999-2009) by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Scottish Health Department, Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Alzheimer Research UK, Alzheimer Society and University of Aberdeen Development Trust. This work was supported by the Elphinstone Scholarship, Roland Sutton Academic Trust, the Morningfield Association and the Rabin Ezra Scholarship Trust, which provides salary cost and consumables to MK.Peer reviewedPostprin

Increased diastolic blood pressure is associated with MRI biomarkers of dementia-related brain pathology in normative ageing

Background hypertension is a risk for brain ageing, but the mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected biomarkers of brain ageing include white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), a marker of cerebrovascular disease, and hippocampal volume, a marker of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Objective to examine relationships between blood pressure (BP) components and brain pathology in older adults. Subjects two hundred and twenty-seven members of the Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort between ages 64 and 68 years. Methods BP was assessed biennially between 64 and 68 years and brain MRI performed at 68 years. The risk factors of interest were diastolic and systolic BP and their visit-to-visit variability. Outcomes were WMH abundance and hippocampal volume. Regression models, controlling for confounding factors, examined their relationships. Results higher diastolic BP predicted increased WMH (β = 0.13, P = 0.044) and smaller hippocampi (β = −0.25, P = 0.006). In contrast, increased systolic BP predicted larger hippocampi (β = 0.22, P = 0.013). Variability of diastolic BP predicted lower hippocampal volume (β = −0.15, P = 0.033). These relationships were independent of confounding life-course risk factors. Anti-hypertensive medication did not modify these relationships, but was independently associated with increased WMH (β = 0.17, P = 0.011). Conclusion increased diastolic BP is associated with biomarkers of both cerebrovascular and Alzheimer’s diseases, whereas the role of systolic BP is less clear, with evidence for a protective effect on hippocampal volume. These differing relationships emphasise the importance of considering individual BP components with regard to brain ageing and pathology. Interventions targeting diastolic hypertension and its chronic variability may provide new strategies able to slow the accumulation of these harmful pathologies

Brain hyperintensity location determines outcome in the triad of impaired cognition, physical health and depressive symptoms:A cohort study in late life

The authors would like to thank the participants of the Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort (ABC36). Image acquisition and image analysis for ABC36 were funded by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust (now Alzheimer’s Research UK). A.D.M., C.J.M., S.S., L.J.W., and R.T.S. have received grants from: Chief Scientist Office, Department of Health, Scottish Government; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilPeer reviewedPostprin

Klotho, APOEε4, cognitive ability, brain size, atrophy and survival : A study in the Aberdeen Birth Cohort of 1936

We thank the cohort participants who contributed to these studies. The study was supported by the University of Aberdeen Development Trust; the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); the Wellcome Trust; the Chief Scientist Office (Scotland); and the Alzheimer’s Research Trust (now ARUK).Peer reviewedPostprin

Early Life Socioeconomic Circumstance and Late Life Brain Hyperintensities : A Population Based Cohort Study

Funding: Image acquisition and image analysis for this study was funded by the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the participants of the Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort (ABC36), without whom this research would not have been possible.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Compact Full-Field Ion Detector System for SmallSats Beyond LEO

NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is applying its expertise and facilities in harsh environment instrumentation to develop a Compact Full-Field Ion Detector System (CFIDS). The CFIDS is designed to be an extremely compact, low cost instrument, capable of being flown on a wide variety of deep space platforms, to provide multi-directional, comprehensive (composition, velocity, and direction) in-situ measurements of heavy ions in space plasma environments

A comparison of measurement methods of hippocampal atrophy rate for predicting Alzheimer's dementia in the Aberdeen Birth Cohort of 1936

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank all radiographers and doctors involved in gathering the data. A special thanks is given to the participants from the Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort studies for their voluntary contribution to these projects. R.T.S. receives funding from TauRx. A.D.M. provides brain imaging advice to TauRx but receives no remuneration for this. She has previously received honoraria from GE Healthcare for educational lectures on brain imaging in dementia and parkinsonian disorders. The other authors report no disclosures. Data collection was funded by grants from the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, grant reference ART/SPG2003B), Alzheimer's Research UK (grant reference ARUK-SB2012B-2), and the University of Aberdeen Development Trust.DG002 RGB3109. L.J.W., R.T.S., and A.D.M. acquired funding for the study and are steering committee members and guarantors of the imaging data. L.J.W. recruited participants. A.D.M. supervised all imaging acquisitions. Conflicts of interest: None declared Statistical analyses completed by Dr Arnab Rana, Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Center Industry sponsorship: None.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

PTF10nvg: An Outbursting Class I Protostar in the Pelican/North American Nebula

During a synoptic survey of the North American Nebula region, the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) detected an optical outburst (dubbed PTF10nvg) associated with the previously unstudied flat or rising spectrum infrared source IRAS 20496+4354. The PTF R-band light curve reveals that PTF10nvg brightened by more than 5 mag during the current outburst, rising to a peak magnitude of R~13.5 in 2010 Sep. Follow-up observations indicate PTF10nvg has undergone a similar ~5 mag brightening in the K band, and possesses a rich emission-line spectrum, including numerous lines commonly assumed to trace mass accretion and outflows. Many of these lines are blueshifted by ~175 km/s from the North American Nebula's rest velocity, suggesting that PTF10nvg is driving an outflow. Optical spectra of PTF10nvg show several TiO/VO bandheads fully in emission, indicating the presence of an unusual amount of dense (> 10^10 cm^-3), warm (1500-4000 K) circumstellar material. Near-infrared spectra of PTF10nvg appear quite similar to a spectrum of McNeil's Nebula/V1647 Ori, a young star which has undergone several brightenings in recent decades, and 06297+1021W, a Class I protostar with a similarly rich near--infrared emission line spectrum. While further monitoring is required to fully understand this event, we conclude that the brightening of PTF10nvg is indicative of enhanced accretion and outflow in this Class-I-type protostellar object, similar to the behavior of V1647 Ori in 2004-2005.Comment: Accepted to the Astronomical Journal; 21 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables in emulateapj format; v2 fixes typo in abstract; v3 updates status to accepted, adjusts affiliations, adds acknowledgmen