Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease: Methodology and Baseline Sample Characteristics

Abstract

ObjectiveThe Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's disease (KBASE) aimed to recruit 650 individuals, aged from 20 to 90 years, to search for new biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to investigate how multi-faceted lifetime experiences and bodily changes contribute to the brain changes or brain pathologies related to the AD process.MethodsAll participants received comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological evaluations, multi-modal brain imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance angiography, [11C]Pittsburgh compound B-positron emission tomography (PET), and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-PET, blood and genetic marker analyses at baseline, and a subset of participants underwent actigraph monitoring and completed a sleep diary. Participants are to be followed annually with clinical and neuropsychological assessments, and biannually with the full KBASE assessment, including neuroimaging and laboratory tests.ResultsAs of March 2017, in total, 758 individuals had volunteered for this study. Among them, in total, 591 participants–291 cognitively normal (CN) old-aged individuals, 74 CN young- and middle-aged individuals, 139 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 87 individuals with AD dementia (ADD)–were enrolled at baseline, after excluding 162 individuals. A subset of participants (n=275) underwent actigraph monitoring.ConclusionThe KBASE cohort is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study that recruited participants with a wide age range and a wide distribution of cognitive status (CN, MCI, and ADD) and it has several strengths in its design and methodologies. Details of the recruitment, study methodology, and baseline sample characteristics are described in this paper.

Neuroticism, conscientiousness, and in vivo Alzheimer pathologies measured by amyloid PET and MRI

“…This study included a total of 397 middle‐ and old‐aged non‐demented individuals consisting of cognitively normal (CN) and MCI groups, who participated in the Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis & Prediction of Alzheimer's disease (KBASE), an ongoing prospective cohort study since 2014 . The inclusion criteria for the CN group were as follows: (i) between 55 and 90 years of age; (ii) exhibiting neither MCI nor dementia; and (iii) a global Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score of 0.…”

“…All participants underwent standardized clinical assessments performed by trained psychiatrists based on the KBASE clinical assessment protocol, which includes the CERAD‐K Assessment Packet and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Vascular risk factors (VRF), consisting of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, transient ischemic attack, and stroke, were assessed by trained nurses during a systematic interview with the participants and their informants.…”

Midlife Lifestyle Activities Moderate APOE ε4 Effect on in vivo Alzheimer’s Disease Pathologies

“…The present study included 287 non-demented older adults [215 cognitively normal (CN), 72 mild cognitive impairment (MCI)] between 55 and 90 years of age who participated in the Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's disease (KBASE), an ongoing prospective cohort study initiated in 2014 (Byun et al, 2017). The CN group consisted of participants with a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR; Morris, 1993) score of 0.…”

“…(3) contraindications for an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan (e.g., pacemaker or claustrophobia); (4) illiteracy; (5) the presence of significant visual/hearing difficulties and/or severe communication or behavioral problems that would make clinical examinations or brain scans difficult; (6) taking an investigational drug; and (7) pregnant or breastfeeding. All the participants received comprehensive neuropsychological and clinical evaluation including midlife cognitive activity and physical activity according to the KBASE assessment protocol (Byun et al, 2017). More detailed information on the KBASE study methodology including the enrollment and assessment of participants was described previously (Byun et al, 2017).…”

“…All the participants received comprehensive neuropsychological and clinical evaluation including midlife cognitive activity and physical activity according to the KBASE assessment protocol (Byun et al, 2017). More detailed information on the KBASE study methodology including the enrollment and assessment of participants was described previously (Byun et al, 2017).…”