2023 Alzheimer's Association Research Grant to Promote Diversity (AARG-D)

Modifiable Environmental Exposures in Relation to Brain Health

Can living in warmer, noisier areas with reduced green space increase dementia risk in vulnerable population groups?

Marcia Pescador Jimenez, Ph.D.
Boston University
Boston, MA - United States

Background

Studies indicate that in the United States, older Black adults are about twice as likely and older Hispanic adults are about one and one-half times as likely to develop dementia as older Whites. Therefore, it is important to study the factors that impact brain health in Black and Hispanic populations before memory loss and other dementia-related symptoms become evident. 

Research has also shown that long-time exposure to adverse environmental conditions may increase dementia risk, especially in vulnerable communities. These conditions, which include higher ambient temperatures, higher levels of noise and reduced areas of green space, have been observed to promote poor sleep, higher levels of stress, high blood pressure and other health factors linked to dementia. Such research, however, has been limited – partly because the technology used to assess environmental conditions over time has been imprecise, and partly because most of the studies have focused on White communities. 

Research Plan

Dr. Marcia Pescador Jimenez and colleagues will analyze how environmental conditions over time may lead to brain changes that promote dementia risk in vulnerable populations. The researchers will recruit individuals from two California-based studies of aging: The Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) cohort, which enlists community-dwelling older adults in the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas; and The Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR), which enlists older Black adults in the San Francisco Bay area. Using such cutting-edge methods as satellite image data  and machine learning (a computer science technique), the investigators will measure the temperature, noise and green space conditions in each participant’s living environment over time. They will then use this data, along with cognitive and brain scan data from the KHANDLE and STAR studies, to assess how temperature, noise level and green space are independently linked to cognitive decline and other dementia-related brain changes (such as the accumulation of beta-amyloid and tau proteins).      

Impact

Results from this project could refine our understanding of how environmental conditions may contribute to the higher risk of dementia experienced by Black and Hispanic adults. They could also lead to novel, community-based methods of reducing or delaying dementia onset in underserved communities.