HABS-HD
Health and Aging Brain Study: Health Disparities (HABS-HD)
Community-based longitudinal study in Fort Worth, Texas, of about 3,840 non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic White adults with 3 T MRI (T1w, FLAIR, DTI, GRE, ASL, fMRI), amyloid and tau PET, blood biomarkers, genomics and cognitive testing.
Overview
The Health and Aging Brain Study: Health Disparities (HABS-HD) is a community-based longitudinal cohort run by the Institute for Translational Research at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas. It studies brain ageing and Alzheimer's disease across non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic (mostly Mexican American) and non-Hispanic White adults, and grew out of the earlier HABLE study. Data are released to approved researchers about every six months, with raw images held at LONI.
Composition
The methods paper describes data release 6: 3,840 partners (1,066 non-Hispanic Black, 1,425 Hispanic, 1,349 non-Hispanic White), of whom 2,379 are women. At baseline 2,788 were cognitively unimpaired, 804 had mild cognitive impairment and 236 had dementia. Enrolment is open from age 30, and follow-up visits are every 24 months. Besides imaging, the study collects clinical labs, plasma biomarkers (amyloid, tau, NfL, GFAP), APOE genotypes, genome-wide SNP data, whole genome sequencing, neuropsychological tests and area deprivation scores.
Acquisition
MRI was acquired on a Siemens 3 T Skyra (March 2017 to December 2020) and then a Siemens 3 T Magnetom Vida. The protocol includes MPRAGE, FLAIR, a high-resolution T2w hippocampal scan, DTI, a gradient recalled echo (GRE) sequence, arterial spin labeling and resting-state BOLD; from August 2024 a T2w SPACE scan and a multi-echo GRE were added and ASL changed from pulsed to pseudo-continuous. The paper notes that the GRE data can be used for SWI and quantitative susceptibility maps. Amyloid PET uses florbetaben and tau PET uses PI-2620, mostly on Siemens Biograph Vision 450 PET/CT scanners.
Annotations
No manual image labels. Released derived data include FreeSurfer regional thickness, hippocampal and subfield volumes, white matter hyperintensity volumes, DTI tract measures, and amyloid and tau PET clinical reads and SUVRs.
Known limitations
- The Hispanic group is about 92% Mexican American, which limits generalisation to other Hispanic groups.
- Scanner and protocol changed twice, so harmonisation is needed for pooled analyses.
- Not every partner has every scan; for example only part of the cohort has a tau PET read.
- Per-sequence image counts, including GRE/SWI counts, are not published by the study.
Cohort
Aggregate numbers from the sources below. Bars are relative to the 3,840 subjects.
Sex
- Female 2,379 62%
- Male 1,461 38%
Contrast / sequence
subjects, values can overlap
- FLAIR 3,569 93%
- T1-weighted 3,427 89%
PET tracer
subjects
- [18F]florbetaben 2,564 67%
- [18F]PI-2620 1,532 40%
Condition
subjects, values can overlap
- Healthy control 2,788 73%
- Mild cognitive impairment 804 21%
- Dementia 236 6%
License and access
Our reading of the license, not legal advice. Before you use the data, read the original license and confirm that your use is allowed. We take no responsibility for how you use a dataset. Full disclaimer
A research proposal is reviewed and approved
Health and Aging Brain Study - Health Disparities (HABS-HD) Data Use Agreement
Signed agreement after a proposal reviewed by the HABS-HD Data Access and Publications Committee. Use is limited to scientific investigation, teaching or planning clinical research for the proposed project. Redistribution of original or derived data is prohibited, manuscripts go to the committee before submission, and new data generated from HABS-HD data must be deposited back. Access lasts 12 months and can be renewed.
What you can do
- Conditional
- Not stated
- Conditional
- Conditional
What you can share
- No
- No
- Not stated
What you must do
- Yes
- Share alike No
- Yes
- Conditional
- Yes
- Release code No
- Yes
- No
Limits
- Yes
- No
Commercial license: Not stated
Citation
Petersen ME, Zhou Z, et al. Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities (HABS-HD) methods and partner characteristics. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions 11(3):e70140 (2025). doi:10.1002/trc2.70140. The DUA also requires "The Health and Aging Brain Study (HABS-HD) Study Team" on the by-line and the NIA grant acknowledgement.
All numbers
Every number on this page, as stored in stats.csv, with its source.
| Measure | Breakdown | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects | total partners in data release 6 (1066 non-Hispanic Black; 1425 Hispanic; 1349 non-Hispanic White) | 3,840 | petersen2025 Results, Demographics |
| Subjects | sex=female sum of the three groups (672 + 940 + 767) | 2,379 | petersen2025 Table 4 |
| Subjects | sex=male sum of the three groups (394 + 485 + 582) | 1,461 | petersen2025 Table 4 |
| Subjects | condition=healthy cognitively unimpaired; sum of the three groups (687 + 1024 + 1077) | 2,788 | petersen2025 Table 4 |
| Subjects | condition=mci sum of the three groups (306 + 306 + 192) | 804 | petersen2025 Table 4 |
| Subjects | condition=dementia sum of the three groups (68 + 89 + 79) | 236 | petersen2025 Table 4 |
| Subjects | contrast=FLAIR partners with a FLAIR-based white matter hyperintensity volume; sum of the three groups (930 + 1341 + 1298) | 3,569 | petersen2025 Table 6 |
| Subjects | contrast=T1w partners with a T1w-based left parahippocampal measure; sum of the three groups (885 + 1294 + 1248) | 3,427 | petersen2025 Table 6 |
| Subjects | tracer=florbetaben partners with an amyloid PET clinical read; sum of the three groups (1056 + 727 + 781) | 2,564 | petersen2025 Table 6 |
| Subjects | tracer=pi2620 partners with a tau PET clinical read; sum of the three groups (630 + 413 + 489) | 1,532 | petersen2025 Table 6 |
Sources
The keys used in the table above.