The Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) longitudinal study protocol: Phase 4 (“Enrichment”) and Phase 5 (“Rescan”)

Abstract

The Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) started in 2010 to study the effect of healthy adult ageing on cognition and the brain in a population-derived sample. The study design and protocol for Phases 1–3 of Cam-CAN were detailed in 10.1186/s12883-014-0204-1; this paper outlines the design and protocol of Phases 4–5, which enable longitudinal investigation of cognitive and brain ageing over approximately 12 years. More details about the Cam-CAN project can be found here: www.cam-can.org. Phase 4 was an at-home assessment of cognition, demographics and lifestyle, performed approximately 6 years after Phase 1 (baseline assessment), for which all people from Phase 1 were invited. Phase 5 combined repeated online cognitive, demographics and lifestyle assessment, followed by in-lab attendance for MRI and MEG brain scanning, approximately 12 years after Phase 1, for which all people from Phase 2 (baseline brain assessment) were invited. Demographics, lifestyle and cognitive data are therefore now available for three timepoints, and MRI and MEG brain data for two timepoints. The Cam-CAN study offers deep and wide phenotyping of neurocognitive health across the adult lifespan (18–96). These rich data will allow researchers to address questions like: why do some people maintain their cognitive abilities better than others, in terms of their brain structure or function, their lifestyle and/or their genetics? Given the shifting demographics towards old age in most countries, this knowledge will be important to help people function independently for longer, reducing both individual and societal burden.

Keywords

ageing / cognition / lifespan / longitudinal / neuroimaging

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