Neuropathologic research on dementia using Nun Study and HAAS data

描述(由申请人提供)：预防阿尔茨海默病(AD)和相关痴呆疾病的策略的制定将取决于对潜在病理过程的理解。近年来，很明显，在老年人中，这些疾病通常是两个或两个以上基本致病过程的结果，往往是相加的相互作用。这种复杂性在很大程度上被认为是在纵向流行病学项目的背景下进行的神经病理学研究的结果，例如修女研究和火奴鲁鲁-亚洲老龄化研究(HAAS)，这两项研究现已完成。拟议的项目将汇编854例HAAS身体和大约500例NUN研究身体的累积数据和图像，开发一个共同的脑部切片照片图像的数据集和档案，并将用于对新修订的神经病理学标准进行平行评估，以确定和测量阿尔茨海默病的过程，并将其与以前的标准进行比较。此外，这些相同的数据将用于深入分析AD脑损伤和脑萎缩作为导致痴呆症的直接原因所起的相互依赖和独立的作用。这些努力有望：(1)为两个项目积累的资源的未来分析利用提供基础；(2)检验修订后的神经病理学AD评估标准对未来研究老年痴呆疾病的可能影响和效用；以及(3)促进我们从神经影像和神经病理学角度对脑萎缩的原因和重要性的理解的概念趋同。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The development of strategies to prevent Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementing illnesses will depend on an understanding of the underlying pathologic processes. In recent years it has become apparent that in older persons, these illnesses are usually the result of two or more fundamental pathogenic processes, often interacting additively. This complexity has been recognized largely as a result of neuropathological research in the context of longitudinal epidemiologic projects such as the Nun Study and the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS), both now completed. The proposed project will compile accrued data and images from 854 HAAS autopsies and approximately 500 Nun Study autopsies, develop a common dataset and archive of photographic images of brain sections, and will be employed in parallel assessments of newly revised neuropathologic criteria for the identification and measurement of the AD disease process, which will be compared to previous criteria. In addition, these same data will be utilized for in an in-depth analysis of the interdependent and independent roles of AD brain lesions and brain atrophy as proximate causal factors responsible for dementia. These efforts are expected to: (1) provide a foundation for future analytic use of the accrued resources of the two projects, (2) examine the likely impact and utility of the revised neuropathologic AD assessment criteria for future research addressing the dementing illnesses of late life, and (3) facilitate a conceptual convergence of our understanding of the causes and importance of brain atrophy from neuroimaging and neuropathological perspectives.