R01AG075883

Novel application of digital signals of movement, sleep, and heart rhythms for detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias - project summary.

Early detection of cognitive and functional decline is a major goal of the NIA in its fight against Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Physical, physiological, and cognitive changes associated with ADRD may emerge years prior to clinical manifestations. Thus, there is an urgent need for novel, cost-effective, noninvasive, and scalable tools to improve detection of ADRD risk.

Older adults with cognitive impairment often exhibit changes in movement, sleep, and heart rhythms, suggesting possible shared vascular or neurodegenerative pathways. Emerging research from our group and others links digital signals from movement, sleep, and heart rhythms with brain and cognitive health. However, knowledge gaps remain in the associations among these signals and brain and cognitive health across the cognitive spectrum.

In response to NOT-AG-20-017, this application will directly address these gaps using existing and ongoing/new data collection from wearable technology (7-day accelerometry and 14-day ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG)), cognitive assessments (neuropsychological battery, adjudicated cognitive diagnosis), and neuroimaging (florbetapir PET for beta amyloid (ASS), 3T brain MRI for neurodegeneration and white matter disease) from =1000 older adults participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Neurocognitive Study.

We will use novel analytic approaches to integrate movement, sleep, and heart rhythm features and assess their individual and joint associations with brain and cognitive health. Our overarching goal is to identify clinically relevant digital biomarkers that combine movement, sleep, and heart rhythm signals as sensitive indicators of cognitive function, cognitive trajectories, ADRD pathology, and cognitive diagnosis.

To this end, this research will inform the future use of wearable devices in large-scale studies, provide novel targets for screening and early detection of ADRD in disease stages during which intervention and treatment are more likely to be effective, and aid in identifying high-risk participants for prevention trials.

The Johns Hopkins University

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]

Baltimore, Maryland 212183637 United States

Single Zip Code

Research on Current Topics in Alzheimer's Disease and Its Related Dementias (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) (PAR-19-070)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 276% from $826,153 to $3,104,339.