About the ACT Study
The Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Study was established in 1994 as a landmark study of older adults to better understand factors that affect healthy aging and cognition over the life course.
Following people over their life course is an important strategy for understanding health and disease, and this is especially true for dementia. Over the last 30 years, the ACT Study has enrolled and followed several thousand older adults who receive care as members of Kaiser Permanente Washington, a large health plan in Washington state. To date, the project has identified numerous factors that affect brain aging, with the aim of developing better ways to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
With rich data for over 5,800 research volunteers, the ACT Study is truly a living laboratory that has produced important findings related to memory, lifestyle factors, and how to ease the burden of Alzheimer’s disease.
The ACT Study is led by national and international experts in the broad fields of aging and geriatric research.
Our research program is guided by a shared mission, aspirational vision, and core values.
