Incidental findings on brain MR imaging in older community-dwelling subjects are common but serious medical consequences are rare: a cohort study.

Objectives: Incidental findings in neuroimaging occur in 3% of volunteers. Most data come from young subjects. Data on their occurrence in older subjects and their medical, lifestyle and financial consequences are lacking.

Brain aging, cognition in youth and old age and vascular disease in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936: rationale, design and methodology of the imaging protocol.

Rationale: As the population of the world ages, age-related cognitive decline is becoming an ever-increasing problem. However, the changes in brain structure that accompany normal aging, and the role they play in cognitive decline, remain to be fully elucidated.

Aims: This study aims to characterize changes in brain structure in old age, and to investigate relationships between brain aging and cognitive decline using the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.