A longitudinal study of age-related traits and cognitive function: The Collaborative Amish Aging and Memory Project...

The Collaborative Amish Aging and Memory Project (CAAMP) is an ongoing longitudinal study spanning multiple sites, focused on cognitive function and age-related traits in Midwestern Amish (Ohio and Indiana) communities. The primary traits of interest include Alzheimer Disease and related dementias (ADRD), successful aging (SA), and other age-related conditions.

CAAMP integrates clinical and cognitive assessments with family history, genealogical, genomic, biospecimen, and biomarker data collected across Amish communities in Ohio and Indiana. Cognitive diagnoses are assigned through consensus adjudication using clinical, cognitive, functional, and informant data.

To date, CAAMP has enrolled 3,978 participants (mean age 78.6 (SD = 7.9), 59.1% female, and 83% with an education level at the eighth grade), of whom 2,928 have consensus-adjudicated cognitive status. At the most recent assessment, 66.6% were cognitively unimpaired, 9.9% had mild cognitive impairment, 8.9% had Alzheimer disease, and 4.5% had cognitive impairment, but not Alzheimer disease. The remaining 1,050 did not have detailed cognitive evaluations at their enrollment. Longitudinal cognitive assessments and multiple biospecimen sample types are available for subsets of participants. CAAMP further includes extensive multigenerational pedigree information, genome-wide genotype and whole-genome sequencing data, and plasma biomarker measurements.

CAAMP illuminates the genetic underpinnings of cognition and late life diseases, particularly Alzheimer Disease, by leveraging the special characteristics of a founder population. Continued study of this prospective cohort provides opportunities to identify the genetic and biological factors driving cognitive outcomes alongside other age-related conditions, advancing our understanding of both disease risk and protection.