Head injury, cognition & imaging correlates of dementia in the Insight 1946 cohort

Principal Investigators: Professor Nick Fox, Dr Jonathan Schott
Institution: Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology
Status: Complete

The 1946 birth cohort consists of over 3000 individuals, all born in the UK in the same week in 1946, who have been studied over their life course. Detailed information on cognition and head injury is available for the cohort and this study looks to use this information to investigate whether people who reported having a head injury with loss of consciousness at some point in their life have lower cognitive function and accelerated cognitive decline at age 69.

This study will give researchers a unique opportunity to evaluate hypotheses regarding the relationships between head injury and brain health.

News and links:

• News: Head injuries may worsen cognitive decline decades later
• Video interview – Principal Investigator Nick Fox discusses the 1946 birth cohort and his new work in this group.

Publications:

• James S-N, Nicholas JM, Lane CA et al. A population-based study of head injury, cognitive function and pathological markers. Ann. Clin. Transl Neurol. doi:10.1002/acn3.51331 (2021).