Fredagskollokvium: Aging starts in the womb - factors influencing brain and cognition through the lifespan.

Brain and cognition vary and change markedly through the lifespan. In this presentation, I use magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive data to show that while general age trends can be identified in brain and cognition, there are great individual differences through life. These individual differences are influenced by factors at varying ages, and also by early life-factors. Hence, in some respects, aging starts in the womb. A major challenge is now to identify the impact of early life factors on neurocognitive lifespan changes and aging. This is crucial both to understand the mechanisms at work early in life, and to identify what and how residual variance may be affected by late-life factors. The studies of the Research Group of Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition (LCBC) follow individuals ranging in age from 4 to 87, and are in part linked to the Mother and Child Cohort study (Moba) and data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, enabling investigation of possible pre- and neonatal neurodevelopmental origins of brain and cognitive change. Based on these cohorts, as well as others, I present preliminary data to show the impact of early life factors on brain and cognition through the entire life course. I also present data indicative of how brain and cognition may be influenced by factors at later ages, such as cognitive training.