Imaging of Brain Amyloid Plaques in the Aging Population

Launched by MAYO CLINIC · Jul 30, 2009

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This is a long, watch-and-learn imaging study led by Mayo Clinic to see how brain amyloid plaques (a protein linked to Alzheimer's and other dementias) change over time and how those changes relate to thinking and memory. It uses Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) PET scans, along with some other brain scans, to help researchers understand whether these imaging results can predict who will stay healthy, develop mild cognitive impairment, or progress to dementia. It does not give a treatment; it’s purely diagnostic imaging to study the biology of neurodegenerative diseases over many years.

If you’re considering joining, you would be ages 30–100 and able to lie still for scans; you should not be pregnant or have certain MRI safety issues, and you should have or plan to have a neurological evaluation at Mayo Clinic’s aging or neurodegenerative disease programs. Up to about 8,000 people may enroll, with imaging follow-up roughly every 2–3 years for up to 10 years (or 20 years in some cases), including PiB PET and possibly FDG PET and Tau PET scans. The main goal is to see how brain amyloid relates to future cognitive changes, while secondary goals look at where amyloid is in the brain and how its progression relates to developing MCI or dementia, plus how changes in scans relate to changes in cognitive tests. The study is open-label and non-therapeutic, and results are overseen by independent monitoring teams and collaborations with the National Institutes of Health.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age 30-100
• • Subjects who have completed or are scheduled to undergo the neurological evaluation procedures in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, Mayo ADRC, or Mayo neurodegenerative disease clinics.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Subjects unable to lie down without moving for 10 minutes
• • Women who are pregnant or cannot stop breast feeding for 24 hours at the time of scanning
• • Claustrophobic patients unable to tolerate the scans
• • Standard safety exclusionary criteria for MRI such as metallic foreign bodies, pacemaker, etc.