Objectives: To describe the study design and baseline characteristics of the Brain Aging National Cohort (BANC)-Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), a study aiming to identify risk and protective factors that contribute to brain aging and age-related neurological diseases.

Methods: The BANC-PUMC is a longitudinal study established in 2017 in the city of Beijing, enrolling participants who agreed to donate their bodies and brains for medical research. Participants received face-to-face clinical evaluations including questionnaires, physical examinations, and comprehensive cognitive assessments. Biological samples and brain magnetic resonance images were collected. Neuropathological evaluation of the autopsied brain is performed.

Results: Among the 885 participants, 43.3% were men, and the mean age of the cohort was 71.3 ± 8.2 years. The participants were predominantly equipped with high-level education, and they had an average of 12 years (SD 3.6) of education. The most common chronic disease of participants was hypertension (61.4%). The proportion of Mini-Mental State Examination scores below 24 was 4.3%. The cohort has been followed up annually.

Conclusions: The BANC-PUMC study has the potential to unravel the causes and consequences of age-related neurological diseases via a clinicopathological correlation study. The program will continue and allow further follow-up and extension of current investigations.

The Brain Aging National Cohort-PUMC: study design and baseline characteristics