Public Health.

Background: Subjective social status in the US (SSS) is related to physical, mental, and cognitive health independent of socioeconomic status, yet few studies have assessed SSS in one's community or examined how SSS may function differentially across the intersection of race and gender. This study aimed to assess the relationships between SSS-US, SSS-community, brain health, and cognitive reserve utilizing an intersectional lens to extend the literature on social determinants of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) risk.

Methods: Participants were 867 older adults from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP).

Public Health.

Background: Growing research suggests that food insecurity is associated with worse cognitive functioning; however, longitudinal studies are needed to examine food insecurity and dementia risk.

Methods: Using data from the 2013-2021 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the longest running nationally representative household panel survey, we examined the effects of food insecurity on dementia risk among 3,232 adults (≥65 years). Food insecurity was assessed biennially using the US Household Food Security Survey Module since 2015.

Public Health.

Background: Cancer diagnosis is related to poor short-term cognition, reflecting the condition, stress, and management. Less is known about long-term relationships between time since cancer diagnosis and cognition. We evaluated the association between recency of cancer diagnosis and cognition.

Public Health.

Background: Dementia is underdiagnosed by the healthcare system, and MCI is rarely identified. Thus, while interventions to reduce cognitive decline are becoming increasingly available, it is not clear how appropriate individuals will be evaluated for treatment opportunities. A first step to improving diagnosis is understanding how older individuals with dementia or MCI interact with the healthcare system, especially ambulatory evaluation and management (E&M) visits, the backbone of healthcare.

Public Health.

Background: Neighborhood context includes conditions of the environment where people spend their time (e.g., work, play, seek health care) and it may affect residents' cognitive health.

Public Health.

Background: Adverse social exposome (indexed by national Area Deprivation Index [ADI] 80-100 or 'high ADI') is linked to structural inequities and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease neuropathology. Twenty percent of the US population resides within high ADI areas, predominantly in inner cities, tribal reservations and rural areas. The percentage of brain donors from high ADI areas within the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) brain bank system is unknown.

Public Health.

Background: N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) is a marker of cardiac health and a strong predictor of mortality, incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), and sudden cardiac death in community populations. A link between the menopause transition (MT), sex hormones, and NTproBNP has been suggested, though, no studies have formally examined how NTproBNP changes over the MT. In addition of being a marker of cardiac health, studies suggest NTproBNP to be related to cognitive performance, yet those studies have not considered the MT.

Public Health.

Background: Animal models provide a valuable basis for identification of conserved pathological substrates and processes underlying age-related diseases as well as neurobiological features supporting cognitive resilience in the aging brain. Behavioral measures are a fundamental component in the assessment of cognitive processes but are rarely standardized across laboratories. Currently, there is a scarcity of centralized and standardized data infrastructure for behavioral experiment data collected across laboratories which presents a barrier for data sharing, hypothesis generation, and collaboration.

Public Health.

Background: Over 30 million Americans have diabetes, with 9 million likely undiagnosed. Diabetes is associated with cognitive decline and risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD). The lifetime impact of diabetes and prediabetes on cognition may be cumulative.

Public Health.

Background: The IDEAL study is a randomized clinical trial investigating the psychosocial, behavioral, and cognitive impacts of genetic risk disclosure for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) among Latinos.

Methods: We used address-based sampling in northern Manhattan to recruit Latinos aged 40-64 for a community-based survey and clinical trial. Data collection encompasses demographics, Alzheimer's disease (AD) family history, knowledge and beliefs about AD and genetics, current mental health status, acculturation, impact of COVID-19, familism, fatalism, caregiver status, and prior AD genetic testing.

Public Health.

Background: Dementia is a prevalent neurodegenerative disease with risk attributed to both genetic and environmental factors. Multiple factors contribute to the etiology of dementia, and the relevant exposure window of susceptibility is likely before symptom onset. Conditions and the environment in the early life period have not yet been comprehensively tested for association with later-life dementia.

Public Health.

Background: Numerous social factors, including socioeconomic status, education, and healthcare access, influence health outcomes in older adults. Despite the potential clinical utility of assessing social vulnerability, it is not routinely evaluated in clinical assessments of older adults. This study aims to investigate the association between cognitive decline and a comprehensive social vulnerability index, defined as an index comprising many social factors such as income, education, and housing tenure.

Public Health.

Background: Racial disparities in cognition persist even when accounting for traditional social factors. Occupational characteristics represent a less commonly measured socioeconomic factor that may contribute to health disparities through persistent workforce inequities. Socioeconomic status and cognitive stimulation are potential mechanisms that may link occupational characteristics to racial disparities in cognition.

Public Health.

Background: Emerging evidence suggests that air pollution exposure might diminish the cognitive health of older adults. Although many studies have reported that air pollution is associated with increased dementia risk, associations with the process of cognitive decline have been more heterogeneous.

Method: We used biennial data between 2000 to 2016 from respondents>65 years in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national, population-based cohort in the United States, to study associations of air pollution with cognitive decline.

Public Health.

Background: Environmental pollutants, called perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, immune dysfunction and cancer risk, but their associations with adult cognition are unknown. Nearly everyone in the United States has detectable levels of PFAS in their blood, but our prior work found that Asian Americans have the highest exposure burden. As Asian Americans fastest growing segment of older adults, examination of relationships between serum PFAS concentrations and cognition in Asian Americans urgently needed.

Public Health.

Background: Perceived control is a psychosocial construct thought to reflect one's beliefs about their ability to influence life outcomes and includes both internal (self-efficacy, mastery) and external (structural barriers, constraints) subcomponents. While perceived control has been found to relate to numerous health outcomes such as cardiovascular and mental health, less is known about its impact on brain health. A prior study found that behavioral (i.

Public Health.

Background: Impairments in sensory and motor function are common and have been independently linked with higher risk of dementia in older adults. Yet, there is limited information associated with the increasing number of such impairments and dementia risk. This study investigated longitudinal associations between sensory and motor impairment and dementia in older adults.

Public Health.

Background: Individuals with Alzheimer's disease often exhibit white matter microstructure degenerations observable through diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The circadian system regulates sleep and wake cycles. As people age, sleep and wake cycles can be disrupted, which can worsen sleep quality.

Public Health.

Background: Community engaged research (CER) has been critical for increasing diversity in Alzheimer's studies. However, the effectiveness of CER for engaging a diverse population of 'SuperAgers,' has been largely unstudied. SuperAgers are individuals age 80+ with superior episodic memory.

Public Health.

Background: The Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE, Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT03243422) randomized trial investigated the effect of hearing intervention versus health education control on 3-year cognitive change among dementia-free older adults with untreated hearing loss. Participants were recruited from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study (n = 238) or de novo from the community (n = 739).

Public Health.

Background: Neighborhood conditions and their racial patterning represent under-studied factors that could contribute to racial disparities in dementia risk. Neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) has been linked to dementia, but the racial distribution of SES within a neighborhood may also matter for dementia risk.

Method: Individual-level data from 460 (47% Black, 46% White, 7% other) older adults from the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project (Table 1) were linked to census tract-level data from the National Neighborhood Data Archive.

Public Health.

Background: Shared genetic risk between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and concussion may help explain the association between concussion and elevated risk for dementia. However, there has been little investigation into whether AD risk genes also associate with concussion severity/recovery, and the limited findings are mixed. We used AD polygenic risk scores (PRS) and APOE genotypes to investigate associations between AD genetic risk and concussion severity/recovery in the NCAA-DoD Grand Alliance CARE Consortium (CARE) dataset.

Biomarkers.

Background: Blood-based biomarker testing (BBT) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) to detect amyloid-beta and tau is becoming part of dementia care, with likely future clinical use in asymptomatic populations. Little is known about older adults' awareness of BBT or their perceptions of its potential benefits, risks, and limitations.

Method: We analyzed data from the March 2023 fielding of the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, a nationally representative web and telephone survey of community-dwelling older U.

Biomarkers.

Background: High-resolution and high-contrast postmortem MRI can unveil structural abnormalities overlooked by antemortem MRI, making it well-suited for targeted pathology assessments. In community cohorts, limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE) pathology is linked with smaller amygdala [Makkinejad 2019 Neurobiol Aging] and hippocampal volumes [Josephs 2015 Ann Neurol]. Whether a similar association exists in Down syndrome (DS) remains unexplored.

Biomarkers.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that low body mass index (BMI) or BMI decline from midlife is related to the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related cognitive decline in later life. However, limited information is yet available regarding the underlying brain change that could explain such relationship. This study aims to investigate whether BMI and BMI change after midlife are associated with cerebral metabolism in late life.