A prospective cohort study of prodromal Alzheimer’s disease: Prospective Imaging Study of Ageing: Genes, Brain and Behaviour (PISA)

Highlights • Detailed protocol of the Prospective Imaging Study of Ageing (PISA) Study. • Genetic risk prediction to identify those at differing risk of Alzheimer’s disease. • Longitudinal cohort for the study of precursors and lifestyle risk factors. • Use of online surveys and cognitive testing for large scale phenotyping. • Functional, structural and molecular neuroimaging with neurocognitive testing.
This prospective cohort study, “Prospective Imaging Study of Ageing: Genes, Brain and Behaviour” (PISA) seeks to characterise the phenotype and natural history of healthy adult Australians at high future risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In particular, we are recruiting midlife and older Australians with high and low genetic risk of dementia to discover biological markers of early neuropathology, identify modifiable risk factors, and establish the very earliest phenotypic and neuronal signs of disease onset. PISA utilises genetic prediction to recruit and enrich a prospective cohort and follow them longitudinally. Online surveys and cognitive testing are used to characterise an Australia-wide sample currently totalling over 3800 participants. Participants from a defined at-risk cohort and positive controls (clinical cohort of patients with mild cognitive impairment or early AD) are invited for onsite visits for detailed functional, structural and molecular neuroimaging, lifestyle monitoring, detailed neurocognitive testing, plus blood sample donation. This paper describes recruitment of the PISA cohort, study methodology and baseline demographics.