UCSF

Introduction

This article reviews the current status of the Clinical Core of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), and summarizes planning for the next stage of the project.

Methods

Clinical Core activities and plans were synthesized based on discussions among the Core leaders and external advisors.

Results

The longitudinal data in ADNI-2 provide natural history data on a clinical trials population and continue to inform refinement and standardization of assessments, models of trajectories, and clinical trial methods that have been extended into sporadic preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Discussion

Plans for the next phase of the ADNI project include maintaining longitudinal follow-up of the normal and mild cognitive impairment cohorts, augmenting specific clinical cohorts, and incorporating novel computerized cognitive assessments and patient-reported outcomes. A major hypothesis is that AD represents a gradually progressive disease that can be identified precisely in its long presymptomatic phase, during which intervention with potentially disease-modifying agents may be most useful.