Exploring healthy aging through preclinical Alzheimer disease in the Knight Alzheimer Research Imaging dataset

Alzheimer disease (AD) remains a significant global public health challenge, requiring robust multimodal datasets to elucidate its prolonged preclinical phase, improve early detection, advance understanding of disease trajectories, and guide intervention strategies. Here we present the Knight Alzheimer Research Imaging (KARI) dataset, established by the Washington University Knight ADRC to address this critical need. We detail comprehensive multimodal neuroimaging from 1,645 participants (aged 42-97) across 6,217 acquisitions.

Spanning the AD spectrum from healthy aging to symptomatic disease, the cohort undergoes extensive longitudinal imaging using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alongside positron emission tomography (PET) tracers for amyloid and tau pathology. This is complemented by rich clinical, cognitive, genetic, and biomarker data. In addition to raw imaging, the dataset provides quality-controlled processed outputs, including anatomical segmentations and biomarker quantification.

By making this data accessible to researchers, the Knight ADRC aims to accelerate discoveries in pathophysiology, biomarker identification, and therapeutic development. We thank the staff of the Knight ADRC for their contributions to participant recruitment and clinical assessment, as well as the staff and processing team at the Neuroimaging Laboratory Research Center for their efforts in image processing and analyses. We are deeply grateful to the participants and their families for their time and commitment, which makes this research possible.

This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under awards K01AG080123 (N.J.M.), K01AG095307 (N.S.M.), R01AG074909 (Q.W.), and R01AG070941 (S.E.S., for plasma biomarker data). Support for the Knight ADRC at Washington University in St. Louis was provided by NIH grants P30AG066444, P01AG003991, and P01AG026276 (J.C.M.).

T.L.S.B. reports research funding and/or in-kind support to Washington University from the U.S. NIH, the Alzheimer’s Association, Hyperfine, Eisai, Lilly, Siemens, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Roche, LMI, and Biogen. These authors jointly supervised this work: Brian A.

Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA David A. McKay, Nelly Joseph-Mathurin, Shaney Flores, Stephanie Doering, Sarah J. Keefe, Savannah Tiemann Powles, Russ C.