ADNI MRI data

The goal of ADNI (see ADNI-info.org) has been to standardize and validate MRI and PET imaging and blood/CSF biomarkers for Alzheimer’s treatment trials. We have studied: Elders with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n= 850); AD (n= 350); Normal Controls (n= 350) and 150 Controls with cognitive complaints using: clinical visits, neuropsychological assessments, MRI (structural, perfusion, diffusion-tensor and task-free, resting-state fMRI), FDG PET, amyloid PET (Florbetapir) blood and urine, and CSF (abeta, tau, ptau and other analytes) and whole genome sequencing. Some patients diagnosed with dementia due to AD do not have high levels of brain amyloid plaques, suggesting that their dementia is not due to AD pathology. About 30% of cognitively normal elders (termed “preclinical AD”) do have high levels of plaques, which is a risk factor for cognitive decline. APOE-4 genotype is associated with greater prevalence of amyloid plaques, and other factors causing greater prevalence of AD. A major addition is longitudinal tau PET on almost all subjects. Similar ADNI-like projects are underway in Australia, Japan, Europe, China, Taiwan, and Korea. All ADNI data is available to all scientists in the world, on USC/LONI/ADNI, without embargo. Blood and CSF samples can be requested. ADNI methods are now widely used in clinical treatment trials. Over 1,200 papers have been published on ADNI. ADNI will continue to validate effective diagnostic techniques which can be used for diagnosis and to measure the effects of treatments which slow progression and prevent AD.