About the ADNI Study

Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and eventually, basic functions. Currently, there is no way to prevent or cure it.

The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is a brain health research study that is helping us better understand the disease. The study’s goals are to improve how doctors diagnose and treat a patient with Alzheimer’s disease and to provide data to researchers around the world.

ADNI4 is a 5-year study looking to recruit diverse participants. This is so our research better represents all people. This includes more Black, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian, and American Indian/Alaska Native participants.

This study involves cognitive tests, blood tests, and brain imaging. This is all at no cost to participants. It is longitudinal, which means we study people over time, ideally for years. We do this because we want to track changes in memory and thinking over time.

The learnings we gather are put into an anonymized database and shared with researchers. The scientific contributions from over 1,000 ADNI participants grow each year. More than 4,000 research discoveries can be attributed to ADNI since its start in 2004.

It is our hope that research using ADNI data will help lead to earlier diagnosis, treatments, and eventually ending Alzheimer’s disease.

If you fill out the sign up form and match an age and zip code we are looking for, we will ask that you create an account. You will then be asked to sign a Consent Form to be part of this study. Then you will be asked to answer questions about yourself and take a memory test.

The results from the questions and memory test will help us determine if you are eligible for other parts of the study. For example, you may be eligible to provide a blood sample and/or participate in in-person visits at an ADNI4 clinical site near you. In-person visits may involve brain imaging like an MRI scan, which take pictures of your brain, or other minimally invasive testing. The ADNI study will also ask you to answer questions about yourself and complete a memory challenge every six months. We want to learn about participants’ brain health over time.

The results from the ADNI4 study will be put into an anonymized knowledge base. This is shared with researchers. We hope that by sharing, we are speeding up progress to earlier diagnosis, treatments, and eventually ending Alzheimer’s disease.

Participation in the ADNI4 study is voluntary. ADNI4 is a 5-year study, and you may withdraw at any time with no penalty.

All testing, such as memory tests, blood tests, and brain imaging, are provided at no cost to participants. Participants may be reimbursed for their time if they complete some aspects of the ADNI4 study. Participants who are eligible for and complete clinical visits may be able to learn some test results if they wish.

If you are not eligible for the ADNI4 study, you may be invited to join another study. Please note that not everyone who signs up will be eligible for participating in all aspects of the ADNI4 study. For more information, please visit our FAQs page.