R01AG072652

Longitudinal Examination of Neighborhood Disadvantage, Cognitive Aging, and Alzheimer's Disease Risk in Disinvested, African American Neighborhoods - Project Summary

African Americans (AAs) have disproportionately higher rates and earlier onset of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) relative to White Americans. Although prior research has made significant contributions to our understanding of racial disparities in ADRD, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of how the individual lived experience of being AA, including cumulative exposure to structural racism, contributes to elevated ADRD risk and the potential mechanisms underlying those risks.

Building on the existing, community-based research infrastructure developed by our team's previously funded studies, we will follow a cohort of residents (N=1133) living in two historically disinvested, predominantly AA communities to understand how dynamic neighborhood socioeconomic conditions across the lifecourse contribute to cognitive outcomes in mid- and late-life adults. This proposal rests on the premise that neighborhood segregation and subsequent disinvestment contribute to poor cognitive outcomes for AAs via factors including a) lower access to educational opportunities and b) higher exposure to race- and socioeconomically-relevant stressors, including discrimination, trauma, and adverse childhood events. In turn, these cumulative exposures foster psychological vigilance in residents, leading to cardiometabolic dysregulation and sleep disruption, which may mediate associations between neighborhood disadvantage and ADRD risk. We also will examine potential protective factors that may promote cognitive health, including neighborhood social cohesion, safety, and satisfaction.

The proposed study will leverage our existing longitudinal data on risk and protective factors, biobehavioral mediators, and baseline cognitive assessments, and will include:

1) Three waves of cognitive assessments in the full cohort of participants who are 50 years+ (participants who are aged 35-49 years will have two assessments) and clinical adjudication of ADRD in participants who are 50+ (N=906),
2) Additional assessments of blood pressure and objective sleep,
3) A comprehensive assessment of life and residential history using the questionnaire from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and
4) In-depth qualitative interviews to reveal lifecourse opportunities and barriers experienced by AAs in achieving optimal cognitive health in late life.

Understanding how structural racism has influenced the lived experience of AAs, including dynamic changes in neighborhood conditions over time, is critical to inform multi-level intervention and policy efforts to reduce pervasive racial and socioeconomic disparities in ADRD.

University Of Pittsburgh - Of The Commonwealth System Of Higher Education

TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.866 - Aging Research

National Institute on Aging (NIA) [HHS - NIH]

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 152221808 United States

Single Zip Code

Change of Recipient Organization (Type 7 Parent Clinical Trial Optional) (PA-24-254)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 273% from $2,267,650 to $8,459,234.