The Lothian Birth Cohort recently began Wave 6 of the longitudinal study of cognition, the brain & general ageing, which includes a MR scan at the Edinburgh Imaging Facility RIE. Image Edinburgh Imaging Research Radiographers with study participant (middle), at the Edinburgh Imaging Facility RIE MR scanner The end of October saw the return of the first participant of Wave 6 of the Lothian Birth Cohort (LBC) 1936 Study. The participant, who is one of a unique group of individuals who were initially recruited for the LBC 1936 Study in 2004, underwent Magnetic Resonance (MR) brain imaging at the Edinburgh Imaging Facility RIE. The LBC 1936 Study was designed as a follow up to the Scottish Mental Survey, which tested the intelligence of almost every 11-year-old in Scotland in the month of June 1947. Data from the 1947 survey was “rediscovered” in 1997. In 2004, participants from the 1947 survey were contacted & the LBC 1936 Study was formed. This longitudinal study of cognitive, brain & general ageing aims to understand two things: How our brain & thinking skills change throughout life, & Why some brains age better than others. Since the LBC 1936 Study's inception, participants have returned for repeated testing: cognitive, physical, medical & up to five MR scans. This current 6th wave of the LBC 1936 Study will provide longitudinal coverage on participants from 70 to 85 years of age. The LBC 1936 Study is therefore an exceptionally rare & valuable resource for local & international researchers, seeking to characterize multiple facets of ageing & to understand those at greatest risk of decline during this critical stage of life. The MR scan for the 6th wave of the LBC 1936 Study, is carried out on the Edinburgh Imaging Facility RIE’s 3T Siemens Prisma Scanner. The MR scan consists of high-resolution structural scanning & Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). The scan data undergoes a myriad of image analysis techniques, providing a huge volume of data which can be used to characterize age-related brain changes. The structural measures offer unique insights into biological bases of cognitive ageing differences as well as into their potential determinants. These include early life factors such as: participants’ age 11 intelligence test scores education socioeconomic differences lifestyle genetics epigenetics, & many more. Related links Lothian Birth Cohorts Edinburgh Imaging Facility RIE Brain & nervous system Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 What is a MR scan? 07 Sep 21. ESO Conference award 15 Jul 21. Dr Olivia Hamilton gains PhD 04 Jun 19. LBC Wave 5 final scan 01 Mar 18. Lothian Birth Cohort Social media tags & titles The Lothian Birth Cohort recently began Wave 6 of the longitudinal study of cognition, the brain & general ageing, which includes a MR scan at the Edinburgh Imaging Facility RIE. @EdinUniBrainSci @EdinUniLBC @SimonRCox Publication date 23 Nov, 2021
