Abstract

Cognitive decline is one of the most feared aspects of growing old; a strong evidence base is required for identifying the (malleable and non-malleable) factors that drive cognitive ageing differences and especially those which may be most amenable to intervention. We seek funds to collect a 6th (COVID-delayed) and 7th waves of data from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, a large group of relatively healthy community-dwelling older adults, all of whom were born in 1936 (N =1,091 at recruitment). The cohort hasa wide range of phynotypic data from older age (at 70, 73, 76, 79, 82) including cognitive, genetic, epigenetic, lifestyle, physical and medical, with structural and diffusion MRI data at ages 73, 76, 79 and 82. They also have a measure of childhood intelligence from age 11 alongside other early life sociodemographic data. Supporting a 6th and 7th wave – and scientists to collect analyse these data – confer important benefits: multi-wave, multimodal information of this breadth is lacking for people in their 9th decade. The longer duration, extra sampling points, and data linkage (e.g. GP and hospital records to continue to collect data on outcomes for all 1,091 participants) all substantially mitigate any statistical power decrements from attrition (which is low at c.20% every three years). These additional waves will offer a valuable opportunity to characterise patterns of cognitive, brain and other aspects of ageing more precisely at this important and understudied time of life. It will also provide important contemporaneous and retrospective data over nearly two decades to be linked with NHS data-linked outcomes, accruing post-mortem, stem cell and other data types. The current hub-and-spoke model reflects that the interdisciplinary and highly productive investigator team are exceptionally well placed to realise the potential of these data through cultivating extensive collaborative links and the opportunities to obtain funding for future analyses.