Abstract
BackgroundCognitive ageing is a major burden for society and a major influence in lowering people's independence and quality of life. It is the most feared aspect of ageing. There are large individual differences in age-related cognitive changes. Seeking the determinants of cognitive ageing is a research priority. A limitation of many studies is the lack of a sufficiently long period between cognitive assessments to examine determinants. Here, the aim is to examine influences on cognitive ageing between childhood and old age.Methods/DesignThe study is designed as a follow-up cohort study. The participants comprise surviving members of the Scottish Mental Survey of 1947 (SMS1947; N = 70,805) who reside in the Edinburgh area (Lothian) of Scotland. The SMS1947 applied a valid test of general intelligence to all children born in 1936 and attending Scottish schools in June 1947. A total of 1091 participants make up the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. They undertook: a medical interview and examination; physical fitness testing; extensive cognitive testing (reasoning, memory, speed of information processing, and executive function); personality, quality of life and other psycho-social questionnaires; and a food frequency questionnaire. They have taken the same mental ability test (the Moray House Test No. 12) at age 11 and age 70. They provided blood samples for DNA extraction and testing and other biomarker analyses. Here we describe the background and aims of the study, the recruitment procedures and details of numbers tested, and the details of all examinations.DiscussionThe principal strength of this cohort is the rarely captured phenotype of lifetime cognitive change. There is additional rich information to examine the determinants of individual differences in this lifetime cognitive change. This protocol report is important in alerting other researchers to the data available in the cohort.
Highlights
Introduction to theLBC1936 study and consent Participants were acquainted with the psychologist, reminded about the study, and given the opportunity to ask further questions
The importance of speed of information processing in normal cognitive ageing There is a search for simpler psychological functions that can account for age-related changes in higher-level, more complex cognitive functions
On behalf of the LBC1936 research team, and with the permission of, and under the management of the Director of Public Health for Lothian, the Lothian Health Board identified potential participants using the Community Health Index (CHI). This is a list of individuals in a given area who are registered with a general medical practitioner (GP)
Summary
The present protocol is being reported at the point where the data have been collected and checked. In discussing this protocol we refer back to the nine research objectives which were stated in the application for funds to Research Into Ageing. Research objectives 1 to 4 have been achieved by the completion of data collection according to this protocol. The LBC1936 data will be used to test the hypotheses stated in research objectives 5 to 7. Research objective 8 has been achieved by obtaining further support, from Help the Aged's Disconnected Mind project, to continue examining the LBC1936 in subsequent waves. There are especially rich data on speed of information processing and memory.
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