About the project
Our cognitive functioning affects every aspect of human life, and in order to understand health and disease in different age groups it is necessary to understand the entire life span. The project will investigate normal variation, risk groups and also the borders of disease. The project consists of data from samples of 1500 participants aged 4 to 90+ years, and so far includes a total of about 3000 examinations. In addition, 1100 new examinations will be conducted as part of Lifebrain and we will use large international databases to replicate, compare and extend the findings.
Objectives
Lifebrain proposes four major principles of differences and change in brain and cognition through the lifespan:
- Change is continuous: at no age is brain and cognition in a fixed state.
- Individual differences are substantial, although age trends can be identified.
- Early life factors influence brain and cognition throughout the entire life course.
- Differences between health and disease of brain and cognition may in several instances be found along a continuum, being of a dimensional nature.
In Lifebrain, we will apply these principles investigating lifespan variance in brain and cognition. The goal is new understanding of both general as well as individual trajectories, which can be utilized in strategies for prevention.and intervention.
Financing
The Research Council of Norway (FRIMEDBIO - Toppforsk) 2016 - 2023.
Cooperation
The research project is a collaboration between the Department of Psychology and international colleagues at Oxford, Umeå, MPIB, Geneva, UCSD and Harvard University