Genetic & Environmental Influences-Biobehavioral Aging

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的主要目的是扩展被称为SATSA（瑞典收养/双胞胎衰老研究）的衰老纵向行为遗传学研究，在对大约350对双胞胎中的485人进行初步面对面测试后进行16年的纵向随访，允许每个受试者进行多达5次面对面测试。此外，该研究将获得1471名曾经参加过任何形式的SATSA评估并且仍然活着的个人的第五波自我报告数据。任何参与者表现出认知障碍或痴呆发病的时间点以及死亡率信息将被链接到数据集。主要研究方向是分析遗传和环境因素对个体在认知和健康（包括与健康相关的行为）方面的长期变化和生命后期连续性差异的影响。领域内的分析将集中在年龄变化的轨迹上，调查年龄变化是否因队列而异，并确定最有信息的生存预测因素。领域之间的分析将调查认知和健康变量之间关系的本质，以及检查影响的方向以及对观察到的关系的遗传和环境贡献。关于这些关系性质的具体假设将被检验。随着测量次数的增加以及研究的队列顺序设计，我们将有一个前所未有的机会来评估有关衰老模式的问题，包括衰退加速后的转折点，衰退模式如何与死亡率（最终衰退）相关，哪些变化先于其他变化，以及哪些因素似乎加速或防止衰退。对衰老个体差异的解释具有基础研究意义，有助于增进对正常和病理性衰老基本过程的理解，也有助于治疗疾病、预防疾病和优化生活质量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary purpose of the proposed research is to extend the longitudinal behavioral genetic study of aging known as SATSA (the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging) with a longitudinal follow-up 16 years after the initial in-person testing of 485 individuals from approximately 350 twin pairs, allowing for up to 5 times of in-person testing per subject. In addition, the study will obtain a fifth wave of self-report data on the 1471 individuals who have ever participated in any form of SATSA assessment and are still living. The point at which any participant shows onset of cognitive impairment or dementia as well as mortality information will be linked to the dataset. Of principal interest are analyses of genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in long-term change and continuity late in life with respect to measures of cognition and health, including health related behavior. Analyses within domains will focus on the trajectory of change with age, investigation of whether age changes differ by cohort, and identifying the most informative predictors of survival. Analyses between domains will investigate the nature of the relationships between cognitive and health variables, as well as examining the direction of effect and the genetic and environmental contributions to the observed relationships. Specific hypotheses about the nature of these relationships will be tested. With an expanded number of measurement occasions as well as the cohort sequential design of the study, we will have an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate issues concerning patterns of aging, including turning points after which decline accelerates, how patterns of decline are related to mortality (terminal decline), which changes precede others, and what factors appear to precipitate or to protect against decline. The explication of individual differences in aging has basic research implications for increased understanding of the fundamental processes of normal and pathological aging, as well as applied implications for treating disorders, preventing disease, and optimizing quality of life.