Summary
This research project aims to identify the specific pathways through which rumination, anxiety, and worry (RAW) contribute to accelerated brain aging and increased risk for Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias (ADRD).
The RAW Brain - The Effect of Rumination, Anxiety and Worry on Aging and Dementia Risk
US · IL
NIH
grant
awarded
#nih-5R01MH108509-09
What they want
The project will operationalize RAW severity and examine its overall and individual effects using a comprehensive set of measures. These measures include hippocampal atrophy, glutamate excitotoxicity, cerebrovascular burden, plasma amyloid, peripheral markers of chronic stress (cortisol, proinflammatory markers, carotid intima-media thickness), and markers of accelerated aging (senescence-associated secretory phenotype proteomic panel, telomere length, free-cell mitochondrial DNA). The study will continue to follow an existing cohort of 150 participants and recruit an additional 150 new participants, with assessments repeated at two-year follow-up, providing multiple time points for analysis. The methodology will incorporate clinical, neuropsychological, multimodal imaging, and computational methods.
Deliverables
- A large cohort of older adults (N=300) extensively characterized using clinical, neuropsychological, multimodal imaging measures, and comprehensive peripheral markers of stress and aging
- Identification of pathways through which RAW phenotypes contribute to accelerated aging and increased ADRD risk
- Identification of effective interventional and preventative targets for anxious older adults
Technical requirements
- Measures of hippocampal atrophy and glutamate excitotoxicity
- Measures of cerebrovascular burden
- Measures of plasma amyloid
- Peripheral markers of chronic stress (cortisol level, proinflammatory markers, carotid intima-media thickness)
- Markers of accelerated aging (senescence-associated secretory phenotype proteomic panel, telomere length, free-cell mitochondrial DNA)
- Multimodal imaging measures
- Computational methods
- State-of-the-art imaging acquisitions
- Cohort management and follow-up for 300 participants over multiple time points
