Portraits of the participants in a university research project and a 3D-printed brain are only some of the exhibits at The Fire Station from tomorrow.
An intricate crystal etching of the brain’s wiring is also on display as part of an exhibition to honour a remarkable group of older people credited with fundamentally altering our understanding of ageing.
The portraits – painted by artist Fionna Carlisle – capture the personalities behind the Lothian Birth Cohorts (LBCs), some of the most intensively studied research participants in the world.
The LBCs are a unique group of people – now in their 80s and 90s – who sat intelligence tests as 11-year olds. Since 1999 they have taken part in thinking tests, brain scans, and health and lifestyle assessments, transforming our understanding of how early life influences healthy ageing.
Professor Ian Deary explained : “I started the Lothian Birth Cohorts in 1999. We recruited 1091 people in 2004 to start the Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936.
“My team and I are trying to find out why some people’s brains and thinking skills age better than others. They all took an IQ type test when they were 11 years old and so unlike most other studies of cognitive ageing in the world we know their baseline cognitive scores. So they have helped us to study different aspects of ageing. So they give blood for genetics, we look at their health and their fitness. They are just about the most studied individuals in the world.”
It is clear that Fionna Carlisle the artist has made many new friends through this project, particularly the Scotts who have welcomed her to their home many times.
Fionna Carlisle, said: “These portraits were painted over seven years and reflect the relationship that I built up with the sitters over this time. 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.”
Wick-born artist Fionna Carlisle studied at Edinburgh College of Art and has exhibited her work across the world, including New York, Chicago, Moscow and Paris.
THE FIRE STATION
EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART
76-78 LAURISTON PLACE, EH3 9DE
The exhibition is on until 24 November Tuesdays to Saturdays More information here.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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