The study examined a group called the Lothian Birth Cohort. This is a collection of over a thousand people born in 1936, who have agreed to regular cognitive and health testing.
Many members of the group have agreed to donate the brain tissue to further the research project in the event of their death.
The data collected from the group has been used in ageing research around the world.
“The Lothian Birth Cohorts are unusual and extremely valuable groups of participants who permit us to understand the association between early life experiences and late life outcomes of health and disease” said Professor Sudha Seshadri, director of the Glenn Biggs institute for Alzheimers and Neurodegenerative diseases at the University of Texas.
“Their generous gift of their time and information, and the superb team at Edinburgh that has been able to leverage these data expertly and creatively has resulted in many new insights into brain aging in health and disease.”
