A multidisciplinary research center, established in 2000 by Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet, with the mission to improve the health and well-being of older individuals by contributing to the understanding of the aging process from a biomedical, psychological and sociological perspective in relation to life-long social and physical contexts. ARC conducts research and education and spreads research findings within and outside the scientific community.
Photo: Stockholms universitetThe long-term collaboration between Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet has enabled researchers at ARC to conduct high-quality interdisciplinary research in areas such as ageing and health, equal living conditions, geriatric epidemiology, and the psychology of ageing. Within these areas, we also contribute to teaching and shared responsibility for undergraduate courses and courses at an advanced level at both universities.
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Photo: Marie FranzénARC organises seminars every Tuesday and you are welcome to join on location or via Zoom.
Photo: NEARThe National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR) is a unique research infrastructure that was founded in 2018. NEAR facilitates the use of databases from major population longitudinal studies on aging and health in Sweden. It is a collaboration between eight universities including Karolinska Institutet, University of Gothenburg, Lund University, Umeå University, Jönköping University, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Uppsala University and Stockholm University.
Photo: SNAC-KSNAC-Kungsholmen is part of the ongoing multi-center Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC), which was initiated in 2001 and is conducted on a sample of individuals aged 60 and older. The primary research areas include dementia and brain aging, multimorbidity and frailty, mental health, cardiometabolic health, the body-mind connection, falls and polypharmacy. Key research questions revolve around lifestyle, physical and social environments, biomarkers, time trends, sex differences, treatment, as well as medical and social care related to different health aspects.
Photo: N/AThe Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old – SWEOLD, is an ongoing, nationally representative survey of the older population in Sweden, run by researchers from Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet. The first data collection was conducted in 1992, and has been repeated in 2002, 2004, 2011, 2014 and 2021. Older adults are asked questions about their actual living conditions in a number of areas relevant to older people, these include health, health and social care, financial resources, housing, occupation, and everyday activities. The survey also includes a few basic tests on physical and cognitive performance.
Photo: Sofia Peterberg ÅdenOlder persons make up an increasing proportion of the population. The image of whom the so-called “older people” are is greatly influenced by how older people are portrayed in the media, in art and in public spaces. In 2019, a unique Arts & Science project was initiated between the Aging Research Center and students enrolled in the course Visual Communicator Photographer VKF19 at Fotoskolan STHLM to help cover that gap.
The long-term collaboration between SU and KI has enabled researchers at ARC to conduct high-quality interdisciplinary research in areas such as ageing and health, equal living conditions, geriatric epidemiology, and the psychology of ageing. Within these areas, we also contribute to teaching and shared responsibility for undergraduate courses and courses at an advanced level at both universities.
Although ARC is physically and administratively located at KI, the support from SU is significant for all our activities and forms a valuable basis for achieving stability and continuity in our work. It contributes to our interdisciplinary research, facilitates collaborations with researchers at different departments at SU, and favours the use of core facilities at the Stockholm University Brain Imaging Centre to collect data.
Increasing longevity and the requirement to be able to work even later in life, places growing demands on both research and education in various aspects of ageing and older individual’s living conditions.
Those who reach retirement age today, often have a long remaining life to look forward to. Simultaneously, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have clearly shown that older people are a vulnerable group. There are still knowledge gaps and shortcomings in how existing knowledge is applied.
ARC’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of older individuals by contributing to the understanding of the aging process from a biomedical, and psychological and sociological perspective in relation to life-long social and physical contexts.
ARC conducts research and education and spreads research findings within and outside the scientific community.
Our main areas of research include:
Our research activities are characterised by:
An important part of ARC's successful activities is the collection of high-quality data. For some years now, we house the national infrastructure NEAR – The National E-infrastructure for Aging Research, which coordinates the existing databases from major population-based longitudinal studies on aging and health in Sweden.
NEAR consists of a variety of longitudinal population studies from several universities in Sweden. NEAR is also a multidisciplinary infrastructure that includes nearly 200,000 individuals aged over 50. The infrastructure includes both nationally representative studies and regional studies with information on people's living conditions, such as health, activities and social interaction, economy, health and social care, as well as a variety of clinical investigations.
ARC has high competence and extensive experience in the field of brain imaging where data is collected at SUBIC (Stockholm University Brain Imaging Center) and at KI.
ARC actively pursues issues of importance to older people, in collaboration with actors outside academia.
We have many years of collaboration with the Stockholm Gerontology Research Center Foundation, the Swedish Dementia Centre, Region Stockholm, Socialstyrelsen och Public Health Agency of Sweden.
In addition to international academic publications, the researchers at ARC regularly publish their results at conferences and seminars as well as in popular scientific journals, and other media. In addition, the results are used in various government investigations and reports.
ARC's organisation consists of the Operational Leadership Team, the Strategic Leadership Team, the Administration Group, two Junior representatives and the External Advisory Board.
The Operational Leadership Team meets every three weeks and deals with everyday decision-making and information sharing.
The Strategic Leadership Team consists of the research group leaders at ARC. The team meets every three weeks and share responsibility for major strategic discussions and decisions.
There are currently ten research groups within the division, categorised into three scientific areas: Medical Epidemiology, Psychology and Social Gerontology.
The administration at ARC supports management, staff and affiliates in the day-to-day work.
The External Advisory Board gathers approximately three times a year to discuss ARC's scientific, economic and organisational development as well as collaboration with the surrounding society.
Email: info-arc@nvs.ki.se
Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society
Karolinska Institutet
SE-171 77 Stockholm
Tomtebodavägen 18 A, Widerström Building, floors 9 and 10
SE-171 65 Solna
The activity reports from ARC provide a brief overview of our organisation, research infrastructure, major findings, global collaborators, active projects, outreach, education, publications, and more.
ARC's research published in scientific journals in recent years.
All doctorate theses are accessible through KI Open Archive.
Abigail Dove (3 October 2024): "Cardiometabolic disease and dementia risk : identifying compensatory factors". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Jonatan Gustavsson (8 March 2024): "Determinants of age-related brain iron accumulation and links to neurocognitive functions". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Jing Wu (15 June 2023): "Ambient air pollution and transportation noise : how they affect mental health in older adults". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Yuanjung Li (6 September 2023): "Cardiovascular health and brain aging: a population-based MRI study". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Xin Xia (20 October 2023): "Cardiovascular health, orthostatic hypotension, and cognitive aging". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Federico Triolo (25 October 2023): "Depression and chronic diseases in old age : understanding their interplay for better health". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Marguerita Saadeh (22 September 2022): "Enjoying life and living healthier : impact of behavioral and psychosocial factors on physical function in old age". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Mahwish Naseer (14 October 2022): "Why do older adults seek emergency care? The impact of contextual factors, care, health, and social relations". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Jie Guo (10 November 2022): "Unraveling the relationship between body mass index and cardiometabolic disease, dementia, and survival in old age". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Louise Sundberg (24 November 2021): "Better all the time? Trends in health and longevity among older adults in Sweden". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Harpa Sif Eyjólfsdóttir (24 May 2021): "Unequal tracks? Studies on work, retirement and health". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Ying Shang (16 April 2021): "How can older adults combat diabetes to achieve a longer and healthier life?". Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet.
Giulia Grande (11 December 2020): "Development of dementia in older adults: the body-mind connection". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Xin Li (28 October 2020): "The relation among aging, dopamine-regulating genes, and neurocognition". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Nicola Maria Payton (8 October 2020): "Understanding preclinical dementia: Early detection of dementia through cognitive and biological markers". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Christina Silvia Dintica (8 May 2020): "Oral health & olfactory function: What can they tell us about cognitive ageing?". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Mozhu Ding (12 December 2019): "The role of atrial fibrillation in cognitive aging: A population-based study". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Stina Ek (25 October 2019): "Predictors and consequences of injurious falls among older adults: A holistic approach". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Lieke de Boer (3 October 2019): "Dopamine, decision-making, and aging: Neural and behavioural correlates". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Lucas Morin (20 September 2019): "Too much, too late? Drug prescribing for older people near the end of life". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Bárbara Avelar Pereira (16 September 2019): "Multimodal imaging: Functional, structural, and molecular brain correlates of cognitive aging". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Kuan-Yu Pan (5 June 2019): "Impact of psychosocial working conditions on health in older age". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Johan Rehnberg (27 May 2019): "Inequalities in life and death: Income and mortality in an aging population". Stockholm: Stockholm University
Davide Liborio Vetrano (13 May 2019): "Impact of cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric multimorbidity on older adults’ health". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Rasmus Berggren (12 April 2019): "Cognitive development and educational attainment across the life span". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Dominika Seblova (22 March 2019): "Causal effects of education on cognition: How do we generate evidence?". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
George Samrani (30 November 2018): "Interference control in working memory : neurobehavioral properties and age differences". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Linnea Sjöberg (28 September 2018): "Using a life-course approach to better understand depression in older age". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Emerald Georgiana Heiland (4 June 2018): "Cardiovascular risk factor profiles in the development and progression of physical limitation in old age : a population-based study". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Anna Marseglia (30 May 2018): "The impact of diabetes on cognitive aging and dementia". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Alexander Darin-Mattson (16 March 2018): "Set for life? Socioeconomic conditions, occupational complexity, and later life health". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Charlotta Nilsen (19 January 2018): "Do psychosocial working conditions contribute to healthy and active aging? Studies of mortality, late-life health, and leisure". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Nina Becker (1 September 2017): "Inter-individual differences in associative memory: structural and functional brain correlates and genetic modulators". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Giola Santoni (2 June 2017): "How well are we aging? Capturing the complexity of health trajectories of older adults". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Ylva Köhncke (23 May 2017): "Lifestyle, cognitive aging, and brain correlates". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Beata Ferencz (17 March 2017): "Genetic and lifestyle influences on memory, brain structure, and dementia". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Martin Bellander (30 November 2016): "Plasticity of memory functioning: genetic predictors and brain changes". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Behnaz Shakersain (29 November 2016): "Impact of nutritional status and diet on cognitive decline and survival". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Krister Håkansson (28 October 2016): "The role of socio-emotional factors for cognitive health in later life". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Josephine Heap (29 September 2016): "Living conditions in old age: Coexisting disadvantages across life domains". Stockholm: Stockholm University.
Susanne Kelfve (20 November 2015): "Gotta survey somebody: methodological challenges in population surveys of older people". Stockholm: Stockholm University.
Alexandra Pantzar (2 October 2015): "Cognitive performance in old-age depression". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Rui Wang (24 September 2015): "Cardiovascular risk factors, brain structure, and cognitive decline in old age: A population-based study". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Joakim Svärd (22 May 2015): "Emotional facial processing in younger and older adults". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Åsa Gransjön Craftman (4 March 2015): "Medicine management in municipal home care; delegating, administrating and receiving". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Anders Sköldunger (20 February 2015): "Dementia and use of drugs: economic modelling and population based studies". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Jonas Wastesson (28 November 2014): "Unequal drug treatment: age and educational differences among older adults". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Britt-Marie Sjölund (5 May 2014): "Physical functioning in old age: Temporal trends and geographical variation in Sweden". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Babak Hooshmand (27 September 2013): "The impact of homocysteine and B vitamins on Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive performance and structural brain changes". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Debora Rizzuto (8 February 2013): "Living longer than expected: protective and risk factors related to human longevity". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Johanna Lovén (28 September 2012): "Mechanisms of women’s own-gender bias and sex differences in memory for faces". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Ylva Haasum (5 June2012): "Drug use in institutionalized and home-dwelling elderly persons". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Francesca Mangliasche (1 June 2012): "Exploring the role of vitamin E in Alzheimer’s disease". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Anna Rieckmann (6 October 2011): "Human aging, dopamine, and cognition. Molecular and functional imaging of executive functions and implicit learning". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Barbara Caracciolo (31 May 2011): "Cognitive Impairment in the Non-demented Elderly. Occurrence, Risk Factors, Progression". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Pär Schön (8 April 2011): "Gender Matters. Differences and Change in Disability and Health Among our Oldest Women and Men". Stockholm: Department of Social Work, Stockholm University.
Stefan Fors (14 June 2010): "Blood on the tracks: life-course perspectives on health inequalities in later life". Stockholm: Department of Social Work, Stockholm University.
Lina Keller (16 April 2010): "Genetics in Dementia – Impact of sequence variations for families and populations". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Anna Rita Atti (13 May 2009): "The effect of somatic disorders on brain aging and dementia. Findings from population-based studies". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Stéphanie Paillard-Borg (11 May 2009): "Leisure activities at old age and their influence on dementia development". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Åsa Livner (8 May 2009): "Prospective and retrospective memory in normal and pathological aging". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
A K M Masud Rana (24 April 2009): "The impact of health promotion on health in old age: Results from community-based studies in rural Bangladesh". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Petra Thilers (9 January 2009): "The association between steroid hormones and cognitive performance in adulthood". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Syed Imran Haider (30 September 2008): "Socioeconomic differences in drug use among older people. Trends, polypharmacy, quality and new drugs". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Neda Agahi (10 June 2008): "Leisure in late life. Patterns of participation and relationship with health". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Bettina Meinow (4 June 2008): "Capturing health in the elderly population. Complex health problems, mortality, and the allocation of home-help services". Stockholm University.
Weili Xu (16 May 2008): "Diabetes mellitus and the risk of dementia: a population-based study". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Suvi Rovio (18 April 2008): "The effect of physical activity and other lifestyle factors on dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and structural brain changes". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Alessandra Marengoni (19 February 2008): "Prevalence and impact of chronic diseases and multimorbidity in the aging population: a clinical and epidemiological approach". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Joakim Gavazzeni (2008). Age differences in arousal, perception of affective pictures, and emotional memory enhancement. Stockholm University.
Gunilla Nordberg (21 September 2007). "Formal and informal care in an urban and a rural elderly population. Who? When? What?" Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Ilija Batljan (11 May 2007): "Demographics and future needs for public long term care and services among the elderly in Sweden. The need for planning". Stockholm University.
Anna Beckman Gyllenstrand (30 March 2007): "Medication management and patient compliance in old age". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Margareta Westerbotn (21 March 2007): "Drug use among the very old living in ordinary households. Aspects on well-being, cognitive and functional ability". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Jenny Rehnman (15 March 2007): "The role of gender in face recognition". Stockholm University.
Erika Jonsson Laukka (15 December 2006): "Cognitive function during the transition from normal aging to dementia". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Erik Nilsson (8 June 2006). "Diabetes and cognitive functioning: the role of age and comorbidity". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Tiia Ngandu (19 May 2006): "Lifestyle-related risk factors in dementia and mild cognitive impairment: a population-based study". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Inga Klarin (12 May 2006): "Drug use in the elderly – are quantity and quality compatible". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Jan Nilsson (16 December 2005): "Understanding health-related quality of life in old age. A cross-sectional study of elderly people in rural Bangladesh". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Anita Karp (9 December 2005): "Psychosocial factors in relation to development of dementia in late-life: a life course approach within the Kungsholmen Project". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Galina Passare (20 May 2005): "Drug use and side effects in the elderly: Findings from the Kungsholmen project". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Sari Jones (6 May 2005): "Cognitive functioning in the preclinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Anna Derwinger (29 April 2005): "Develop your memory strategies! Self-generated versus mnemonic strategy training in old age: maintenance, forgetting, transfer, and age differences". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Diana De Ronchi (27 April 2005): "Education and dementing disorders. The role of schooling in dementia and cognitive impairment". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Katie Palmer (29 September 2004): "Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in the general population. Results from the Kungsholmen Project". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Kristina Larsson (14 May 2004): "According to Need? Predicting Use of Formal and Informal Care in a Swedish Urban Elderly Population". Stockholm University.
Anna-Karin Berger (16 April 2004): "Old age depression: Occurrence and influence on cognitive functioning in aging and Alzheimer´s disease". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Christel Cornelius (27 February 2004): "Drug use in the elderly: Risk or protection?" Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet
Chengxuan Qiu (30 January 2004): "The relation of blood pressure to dementia in the elderly. A community-based longitudinal study". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Linus Jönsson (5 December 2003): "Economic evaluation of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Julie E Yonker (2003): "Hormones and Cognition: Testosterone and Visuospatial Ability, Estrogen and Episodic Memory". Stockholm University.
Kjell Fahlander (24 May 2002): "Cognitive functioning in aging and dementia. The role of psychiatric and somatic factors". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Maria Stella Giron (28 February 2002): "The rational use of drugs in a population of very old persons". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Wallis Jansson (6 June 2001): "Family-based dementia care: experiences from the perspective of spouses and adult children". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Hui-Xin Wang (9 May 2001): "The impact of lifestyles on the occurrence of dementia". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Zarina Nahar Kabir (26 April 2001): "The emerging elderly population in Bangladesh: aspects of their health and social situation". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
Eva von Strauss (25 May 2000): "Being old in our society: Health, functional status, and effects of research". Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet.
