Secrets of Healthy Cognitive Ageing
This walking tour is recommended for ages 12 and above.
In 1932 almost all children living in Scotland who were born in 1921 sat a test that measured their thinking abilities. Another group of 11-year-old school children, born in 1936, sat the same test in 1947.
Over a thousand of these children have been followed up decades later, as older adults, by psychologists at the University of Edinburgh to help us understand what happens to our thinking skills as we age. They are known as the Lothian Birth Cohorts (LBC) of 1921 and 1936.
This activity offers five stops around the University of Edinburgh, tracing the history and findings of the Lothian Birth Cohorts group with over 20 years of research on how our brain and thinking skills change throughout life, and why some people's brains and thinking skills age better than others.
A 1947 school photo with a class of Scottish 11-year-olds
Lothian Birth Cohorts' participants at the 2017 reunion
7 George Square
This is the home of the Lothian Birth Cohorts, a research group in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh investigating how our brain and thinking skills change throughout life, and why some people's brains and thinking skills age better than others'.
The studies offer one of the most complete pictures of ageing of any study in the world. Participants work with the scientists at the University every three years when they are repeatedly assessed with an extensive programme of cognitive, physical, and medical tests, including blood samples and brain scans.
Join us for a walk around George Square and the surrounding neighbourhoods with online resources linked to the study to hear about the project’s unique history, participants, and cognitive and medical tests, and to learn about secrets of healthy cognitive ageing.
Begin your journey with this short animation about how to stay sharp in later life.
Did you know?
The Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 had 550 participants who joined the study at age 79 years when it began in 1999. The surviving super-agers are celebrating their 100th birthday this year.
The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 had 1,091 people at age 70 when it began in 2004. We’re preparing for more testing with the participants at age 85 again this year.
Moray House
Almost all 11-year-old children in Scotland who were born in 1921 and 1936 took an intelligence test called the Moray House Test (No. 12). The test was designed by Professor Godfrey Thomson, Educational Psychologist at the University of Edinburgh from 1925 to 1951. Professor Thomson was a pioneer of intelligence research and a strong advocate of comprehensive education for all children, regardless of their social status.
The test was part of the Scottish Mental Surveys that form the foundation of the Lothian Birth Cohorts 1921 and 1936: Almost all of the Lothian Birth Cohort participants, who took the Moray House Test at age 11, also have intelligence scores from the same test taken in their 70s, giving scientists a unique opportunity to study factors that relate to lifetime cognitive ageing.
» Look for Sir Godfrey Thompson’s millennial plaque on the north façade of the Faculty of Education (visible from the Royal Mile).
Did you know?
The Lothian Birth Cohorts’ cognitive test battery is one of the most extensive carried out on an ageing cohort.
St Cecilia’s Hall
St Cecilia’s Hall is one of the University of Edinburgh’s museums. It is Scotland’s oldest purpose-built concert hall and home to one of the most important historic musical instrument collections anywhere in the world.
This is where the Lothian Birth Cohorts together with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra participated in the BBC Music Day in September 2019, when the theme was Ageing, Dementia and Music.
From nursery rhymes and lullabies to Mozart, rock or jazz, music is with us for much of our lives. Scientists now investigate whether and how music could benefit the ageing mind. Our researchers are now examining whether experience of playing a musical instrument is associated with better performance on tests of cognitive ability in later life. Others are interested in whether listening to music or singing with others is beneficial for psychological wellbeing in later life.
» Listen to a podcast with Dr Judy Okely about her research on music with the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.
Did you know?
40% of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 participants who took part in the study at age 82 reported some experience of playing a musical instrument (mostly in childhood) and 9% of them still played a musical instrument at that age.
In their 80's the participants enjoy listening to all sorts of music, with some favourites including Gilbert and Sullivan operas, Scottish country dancing, and Elton John.
National Museum of Scotland
Researchers from the Lothian Birth Cohorts and Edinburgh Imaging use sophisticated brain imaging techniques that help us understand how brain structure and connectivity relate to the ageing of thinking skills and general health.
To find clues about the causes and consequences of people’s differences in brain ageing, the scientists track age-related changes in the brain with repeated brain scans from most of the Lothian Birth Cohorts participants.
As we get older, our brains become smaller and certain areas of the cortex – the region of the brain with many of the brain cell bodies – become thinner, as brain cells are lost. But the degree of the brain’s change with age is highly variable: some brains look older and shrink more than others, even in individuals of the same age.
The National Museum of Scotland holds a permanent display on the Lothian Birth Cohorts with unique brain models of one of the participants.
Did you know?
The participants who experience less cognitive decline in their thinking skills tend to have ‘younger’ brains than other people of the same age. ‘Younger’ brains are larger in size, thicker in grey matter, and healthier in white matter connections. People with younger ‘brain ages’ tend to have better physical and cognitive functioning and live longer.
Some lifestyle choices, such as smoking, increase the risk of faster cognitive decline. Some health conditions, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, are also associated with more cognitive decline.
Edinburgh College of Art, The Fire Station
Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven Schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh.
In 2018 the ECA hosted a unique exhibition in the recently acquired historic Fire Station, called ‘The Art of Intelligent Ageing: Portraits of the Lothian Birth Cohort Studies’ by Scottish artist, Fionna Carlisle.
Over seven years Fionna Carlisle sat down with each of the subjects, directly engaging with her sitters – some of the participants as well as researchers – in order to create a personal, intimate and accurate portrait.
Carlisle said: “With these paintings I wanted to filter age and show the youth and spirit of the older sitters as people who have real bodies and limbs, spirit and life.”
» Listen to a podcast with the artist Fionna Carlisle and Professor Ian Deary as they discuss how they came to collaborate on the exhibition.
» View the images of selected portraits to meet some of the participants, Professor Ian Deary and the artist Fionna Carlisle.
Did you know?
The Lothian Birth Cohorts have inspired many artists and are the subject of a book (Lifetimes by Ann Lingard), a film (The Living Brain by Anne Milne), a play (Still Life Dreaming, written by Pete Lawson), and a photograph and video exhibition (Transformations by Linda Kosiewicz Fleming). Fionna Carlisle’s selected portraits of the Lothian Birth Cohorts studies were also featured at the Scottish Parliament during the Festival of Politics in October 2019, with over 2,000 visitors.
Find out more
Read about the history of the Lothian Birth Cohort studies:
Listen to this special Brainwaves episode by the BBC Radio Scotland to find out about Lothian Birth Cohorts when they celebrated 20 years of the project in September 2019 (29 minutes):
Watch a video of the exhibition ‘Godfrey Thomson: the man who tested Scotland’s IQ’ (57 minutes):
Godfrey Thomson
Listen to a podcast with Dr Judy Okely about her research on music with the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (14 minutes):
Thank you for taking part in this tour. This is the first year that we've created these self-guided tours and we'd love to know how you found it. We would be grateful if you could spend a couple of minutes completing a short survey about your experience.
