The Betula Project - Aging, memory and dementia

The Betula Project is a longitudinal study of aging, memory and dementia. Data was collected through six waves between 1988–2014: 1988-1990 (test wave 1); 1993-1995 (test wave 2); 1998-2000 (test wave 3); 2003-2005 (test wave 4); 2008-2010 (test wave 5); 2013-2014 (test wave 6). For each test wave participants completed a thorough physical examination with blood tests of a nurse and a careful examination of a memory tester. There are data collected from approximately 4,700 participants. On each occasion, data for about 2000 variables were collected for each participant, which includes data on demographics, health, illness, medication, social and cognitive factors. The Betula project has received funding for research infrastructures (large databases) from the Swedish Research Council. This means a major effort to make the Betula database available to researchers outside the project through collaborations with researchers within the Betula project. To the Betulas database, genetic data and biological samples are also connected. Purpose: Study how memory functions change during adult life, to identify risk factors for dementia and to identify early preclinical signs of dementia and determine the critical factors of successful aging.