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Author Spotlight: Automated Lifespan Monitoring – Discovering Aging Dynamics with the Lifespan Machine
Published on: January 26, 2024
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The Lifespan Human Connectome Project in Aging: An overview
Susan Y Bookheimer1, David H Salat2, Melissa Terpstra3
1Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Neuroimage
|October 18, 2018
Summary
The Human Connectome Project in Aging (HCP-A) studies brain changes in adults aged 36-100+ using advanced MRI and behavioral data. This resource will reveal how brain organization and connectivity evolve with typical aging.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Aging Research
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- The original Human Connectome Project provided extensive data on young adult brain connectivity.
- Aging is associated with significant changes in brain structure, function, and cognition.
- Previous research has lacked comprehensive, multimodal data across the adult lifespan.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish the Human Connectome Project in Aging (HCP-A) as a large-scale resource for studying typical aging.
- To investigate how brain organization and connectivity change across the adult lifespan.
- To explore the relationship between brain changes and key aging characteristics like cognitive decline and hormonal status.
Main Methods:
- Recruiting over 1200 healthy adults aged 36 to 100+, with longitudinal follow-up for a subset.
- Utilizing advanced MRI techniques including structural, resting-state fMRI, task fMRI, dMRI, and ASL.
- Collecting comprehensive behavioral data, including cognitive, psychiatric, metabolic, and systemic health measures.
Main Results:
- The HCP-A dataset will provide a unique resource for examining age-related changes in brain organization and connectivity.
- Data will allow for the investigation of how these brain changes relate to cognitive function, memory, and hormonal status.
- The study focuses on factors known to be altered in advanced aging.
Conclusions:
- The HCP-A is a valuable, freely available resource for the scientific community.
- This project will significantly advance our understanding of the aging brain.
- Future analyses will illuminate the neural underpinnings of typical aging and its associated factors.
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