About the dataset

Primary description: Normal aging and lifespan study

The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) is an ongoing longitudinal study led by the National Institute of Aging (NIA). The BLSA began in Baltimore, Maryland, USA in 1958, with the aim of characterizing the process of aging in general, and healthy aging in particular. The BLSA acquires physiological measures, biomarkers, risk factors, blood samples, and evaluates cognitive function in individuals healthy at enrollment over the course of their lifetime. The neuroimaging sub-study of BLSA began in 1994, with annual or semi-annual MR and PET imaging studies, cognitive testing, and clinical evaluations of a subset of 158 BLSA participants. In 2009, MR imaging assessments were extended to all eligible BLSA participants, who also receive full cognitive assessments, with the current follow-up visit schedule: age less than 60, every 4 years, age 60-79, every 2 years, age 80 and older, every year. 3T MRI data and select variables for a small subset of the BLSA participants are available for download from LONI IDA (https://ida.loni.usc.edu/) and GAAIN (https://www.gaaindata.org/partner/BLSA). For the larger BLSA dataset, investigators can apply for data access via https://www.blsa.nih.gov/.
Study Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
Study Website BLSA
Data Descriptor Paper https://blsa.nih.gov/publications/2022
DUA https://blsa.nih.gov/blsa-data-use
Country/Region USA
Disease Tag aging
Age (mean ± SD)
(Baseline) 		65.4 ± 14.1
Age Range
(Baseline) 		22-93
% Female 52.6
CUBIC Project /cbica/projects/BLSA
PI for CUBIC Access Approval Christos Davatzikos
N Subjects 1152
N MR Sessions 4086
Diagnoses
AD
Value V01 V02 V03 V04 V05 V06 V07 V08 V09 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
CN 1107 751 531 386 265 180 131 96 82 64 49 46 40 34 27 20 14 9 4 2 1 1
MCI 11 18 25 19 12 9 7 6 4 4 6 3 2 1 1 3 1 1 3 2 1
nan 11 7 4 3
AD 9 7 7 5 4 1 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
other 4 3 1 1 1 1 1
early MCI 1
Hypertension
Value V01 V02 V03 V04 V05 V06 V07 V08 V09 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
Normal 525 281 187 101 64 40 42 25 26 18 14 13 10 8 5 4 2 2 1 3 1
Stage2 445 341 252 171 111 84 53 41 36 42 39 34 33 26 24 19 13 8 4 1 2
Stage1 103 75 51 51 40 27 11 8 8 4 1 1 2 3 1 2 2
nan 69 90 77 91 66 39 35 31 16 6 1 1 1 1
Diabetes
Value V01 V02 V03 V04 V05 V06 V07 V08 V09 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
Normal 903 583 400 279 167 96 62 47 47 41 34 30 31 28 20 18 11 8 5 5 3
Diabetic 141 110 81 45 26 16 10 6 9 19 18 17 13 9 10 7 4 2 2
nan 98 94 86 90 88 78 69 52 30 10 3 2 1 1
Hyperlipidemia
Value V01 V02 V03 V04 V05 V06 V07 V08 V09 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
nan 1022 673 471 346 238 164 129 95 64 24 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 2 2 2 1 1
Positive/present 75 74 64 42 21 14 6 7 14 25 26 25 24 20 16 9 7 2 1
Negative/absent 45 40 31 26 21 12 6 3 8 21 18 16 14 12 10 13 6 6 4 3 2
Unknown 1 1 1 1
TBI
Value V01 V02 V03 V04 V05 V06 V07 V08 V09 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
nan 1098 752 537 392 267 177 129 94 77 63 48 42 39 32 25 22 14 10 7 5 3 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION OF BRAIN HX OF QUESTIONABLE DATE AS CHILD 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CEREBRAL CONCUSSION 1942 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1948 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.1 - HEAD INJURY AND LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1944 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.5 - LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS WITH CONCUSSION AND ONE DAY 1 1 1 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1961 1 1 1 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1987 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION IN AUTO ACCIDENT 10-1987 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION HISTORY OF 1961 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION OF BRAIN SECONDARY TO TRAUMA 1946 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1964 1 1 1 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1974 IN AUTOMOBILE 1
850.9 - CONCUSSIONS X3 AGES 9 10 12 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1986 1 1 1 1 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1985 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1961 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION STATUS POST HEAD INJURY 1 1 1
850 - CONCUSSION WITH MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT 1993 1 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, MOTOR VEHICLE 1 1 1 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH QUESTIONABLE LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1955 1 1 1 1
850.5 - POST CONCUSSION SYNDROME 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION FROM VEHICULAR TRAUMA EARLY 1970S 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION AFTER AUTO ACCIDENT 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION HISTORY OF 1 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS SECONDARY TO FALL 1 1
310.2 - POSTCONCUSSION DISORDER 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION X3 1964 1967 1975 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1962 1 1 1 1
850.5 - CONCUSSION WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS TWICE IN EARLY 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION SECONDARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT 1982 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1984 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION X2 1950: SPORTS ACCIDENT, CAR ACCIDENT 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1976 1 1
850 - CONCUSSION 1993 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION SECONDARY TO MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT 1986 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1950 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION IN 2004, 3 MONTHS OF HEADACHES,MEMORY CHANGES 1 1 1 1
854.06 - HEAD INJURY WITH LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1997 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850 - MILD CONCUSSION 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION AUGUST 1982 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1964 1965 WITHOUT SYNCOPE BUT CONFUSION 1 1
850.1 - CONCUSSION WITH BRIEF LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 1989 1 1 1 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION FROM CAR ACCIDENT X2, 1
850.9 - CONCUSSION 1942 1
DLMUSE (v1.0.7)
(4086/4086 complete)
/cbica/projects/BLSA/Pipelines/MRI/BLSA_DLMUSE_2025/Results/DLMUSE_Volumes.csv
RAVENS (DRAMMS-1.4.1)
(4591/4591 complete)
/cbica/projects/BLSA/Pipelines/MRI/BLSA_3.5D_2020/Protocols/RAVENS
DLWMLS (v0.1.0)
(2944/2944 complete)
/cbica/projects/BLSA/Pipelines/MRI/BLSA_DLWMLS_2025/Results/BLSA_DLWMLS_DLMUSE_Segmented_Volumes.csv
Non-Imaging Data
/cbica/projects/ISTAGING/Pipelines/ClinicalDataConsolidation_201911/Data/External_Data/BLSA

Raw data downloaded from source.

https://www.blsa.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2018-08/BLSA_Core_datasets_DATA-DICTIONARY__122017.pdf

Data dictionary of raw data downloaded from source.

/cbica/projects/ISTAGING/Pipelines/ISTAGING_Data_Consolidation_2020/v2.0/istaging.csv

Data consolidated and harmonized in 2020.

This study: subset with df[df.Study == 'BLSA']

README: /cbica/projects/ISTAGING/Pipelines/ISTAGING_Data_Consolidation_2020/v2.0/README.md

Release Notes: /cbica/projects/ISTAGING/Pipelines/ISTAGING_Data_Consolidation_2020/v2.0/Release_Notes.md

/cbica/home/harmang/for_others/final_combined_istaging_withMUSE.csv

Data consolidated and harmonized in 2026.

This study: subset with df[df.Study == 'BLSA']


Funding
The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging neuroimaging study is funded by the Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health and by HHSN271201600059C.