Understanding successful aging

By the year 2030, 1 in every 5 Americans (72 million individuals) will be over age 65. Alzheimer's disease affects 1 of every 10 individuals in this age group and remains one of the most feared consequences associated with aging. In addition, aging individuals are at increased risk of developing other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and ALS. These demographic trends lend particular urgency to efforts to identify the factors that promote healthy aging.

The remarkable Harvard-based Study of Adult Development is the longest study of adult life ever conducted. For 68 years, the study has collected information about two separate groups of men to determine the psychological traits and social factors that characterize adolescents and forty year olds who become vigorous and engaged octogenarians.

Under the direction of study PI, Dr. Robert Waldinger, the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center is taking the Study of Adult Development in a new direction, greatly expanding the amount of data collected and creating an unprecedented resource for scientists who want to understand the factors that contribute to long, healthy lives. Our efforts will consist of:

Adding genetic and neuroscience data to the ongoing study

We are collecting genetic information, sensitive tests of intellectual functioning, neuroimaging of brain structure and function, and ultimately brain autopsys, for each participant in the Study of Adult Development. This data will allow investigators from diverse disciplines to shed light on some of the most fundamental questions about the aging process, such as how genes and environmental factors interact to determine which individuals remain active into the 9th and 10th decades of life?"

Second generation study of aging

Every two years the men who participated in the Study of Adult Development and their spouses provided information about family life throughout the childhoods and early adult lives of their now middle-aged children. The second phase of the study will be to expand data collection on the genetics and cognitive and social functioning to the more than 1,000 children of the study's participants. This information will allow us to examine the links between early life development and aging in a large sample.