title: The Statistical Modeling of Aging and Risk of Transition Project: Data Collection and Harmonization Across 11 Longitudinal Cohort Studies of Aging, Cognition, and Dementia.
abstract: Longitudinal cognitive trajectories and other factors associated with mixed neuropathologies (such as Alzheimer's disease with co-occurring cerebrovascular disease) remain incompletely understood, despite being the rule and not the exception in older populations. The Statistical Modeling of Aging and Risk of Transition study (SMART) is a consortium of 11 different high-quality longitudinal studies of aging and cognition (N=11,541 participants) established for the purpose of characterizing risk and protective factors associated with subtypes of age-associated mixed neuropathologies (N=3,001 autopsies). While brain donation was not required for participation in all SMART cohorts, most achieved substantial autopsy rates (i.e., > 50%). Moreover, the studies comprising SMART have large numbers of participants who were followed from intact cognition and transitioned to cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as participants who remained cognitively intact until death. These data provide an exciting opportunity to apply sophisticated statistical methods, like Markov processes, that require large, well-characterized samples. Thus, SMART will serve as an important resource for the field of mixed dementia epidemiology and neuropathology.
authors.affiliation: Snders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Abner
authors.affiliation: Oregon Center for Aging & Technology, Oregon Health & Science University.
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center.
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Kuakini Medical Center.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gauriglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Dodge
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Washington University.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Woltjer
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo.
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authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, University of Kentucky.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Bennett
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authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Schneider
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authors.lastname: Chen
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authors.lastname: Masaki
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authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lipton
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Dickson
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authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Hemmy
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Cairns
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Tyas
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authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Fardo
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kryscio