Dallas Lifespan Brain Study-Wave 3: Neurodegeneration & Resilience in Cognition

达拉斯寿命大脑研究(DLBS)提供了发生变化的最完整的图景之一 在一生中，大脑结构和大脑功能以及它们对认知的影响。这个 对健康大脑如何保持认知活力或如何过渡到病理的理解是 未来神经疾病的治疗将建立在它的基础上。我们必须研究整个成年人 了解大脑结构和功能的早期变化如何预示着未来的认知脆弱。那里 是大脑功能如何随年龄变化以维持认知的对比模型(维持模式与 薪酬模型)。我们假设，最能刻画一个人的模型与年龄有关 和生活经历。例如，我们预测大脑维护是有效认知功能的基础 中年人，而老年认知功能的维持更可能依赖于 代偿性大脑活动。DLBS最初是在2006年由丹尼斯·帕克荣誉奖资助的， 我们已经完成了相隔四年的两次测试。我们现在为第三波寻求资金，这将是 发生在第一波之后的八年。这第三波可能是科学上最令人兴奋的，因为八年 测量期将使我们能够隔离那些正在经历认知急剧下降的人 以及在八年多的时间里基本上保持认知活力的老年人。这项研究采用了一种 各种神经成像工具，在描述大脑特征方面提供了相当大的广度，包括 结构、功能和血管成像以及详细的认知和心理社会特征 参与者。此外，DLBS还结合了PET扫描，测量β淀粉样蛋白和淀粉样蛋白的沉积 大脑中tau的水平，识别可能处于临床前AD状态的受试者。高水平的淀粉样蛋白 在尸检中，tau神经病理是AD的主要诊断标准，但也是常见的 在健康的、认知上没有症状的成年人身上，DLBS试图解开这个谜团。DLBS专注于 关于五个重要问题：(A)什么神经足迹(维护模式或补偿模式)相关 认知活力与认知衰退的8年轨迹；(B)高淀粉样蛋白积聚 在第一波中预测了八年后第三波发展为轻度认知障碍或阿尔茨海默氏症 疾病；(C)生活经历和健康因素，概念化为神经丰富和神经衰竭 影响大脑功能和认知变化的因素；(D)大脑网络组织的变化 在不同的年龄预测认知活力或衰退；以及(E)脑血管健康的变化 预测认知轨迹。我们可以利用这些数据来开始理解神经和语境的作用 解释因素，不仅是谁会发展成像阿尔茨海默病这样的病理性大脑疾病，而且还能识别大脑 维持认知功能和大脑健康的个体的特征模式。

The Dallas Lifespan Brain Study (DLBS) provides one of the most complete pictures of the changes that occur in brain structure and brain function, as well as their consequences for cognition, over the lifespan. The understanding of how healthy brains either maintain cognitive vitality or transition to pathology is the bedrock upon which future cures for neurological diseases will be built. We must study the entire adult lifespan to understand how early changes in brain structure and function signal future cognitive frailty. There are contrasting models of how brain function changes with age to maintain cognition (maintenance model vs. compensation model). We hypothesize that the model that best characterizes an individual is related to age and life experiences. For example, we predict that brain maintenance underlies effective cognitive function in middle-aged adults, whereas maintenance of cognitive function in old age more likely relies on a shift to compensatory brain activity. The DLBS was initially funded in 2006 by a MERIT award to Denise Park, and we have completed two waves of testing spaced four years apart. We now seek funding for Wave 3, which will occur eight years after Wave 1. This third wave is perhaps the most exciting scientifically, as the eight-year measurement period will allow us to isolate both those who are experiencing precipitous cognitive decline as well as older adults who have largely maintained cognitive vitality over eight years. The study employs a variety of neuroimaging tools that provide considerable breadth in the characterization of the brain, including structural, functional, and vascular imaging as well as a detailed cognitive and psychosocial characterization of participants. In addition, the DLBS also incorporates PET scans that measure deposits of beta amyloid and levels of tau in the brain, identifying subjects who may be in a state of preclinical AD. High levels of amyloid and tau neuropathologies are the primary diagnostic criteria for AD at autopsy, but are also commonly found in healthy, cognitively asymptomatic adults, and the DLBS seeks to disentangle this puzzle. The DLBS focuses on five important issues: (a) what neural footprint (maintenance model or compensation model) is associated with 8-year trajectories of cognitive vitality versus cognitive decline; (b) whether high amyloid accumulation in Wave 1 predicts progression at Wave 3, eight years later, to Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's Disease; (c) how life experiences and health factors, conceptualized as neural enrichment and neural depletion factors, impact changes in brain function and cognition; (d) whether change in organization of brain networks at different ages predicts cognitive vitality or decline; and (e) whether changes in cerebrovascular health predicts cognitive trajectories. We can use these data to begin to understand the role of neural and contextual factors in explaining, not only who progresses to a pathological brain disorder like AD, but also identify brain patterns that characterize individuals who maintain cognitive function and brain health.