Longitudinal associations between neighborhood greenspace and brain aging in cognitively normal older adults

项目摘要 没有治疗方法可以预防阿尔茨海默病，目前影响着580万美国人。 老年痴呆症的风险可以通过健康的饮食、减压和体育活动来降低， 由于成本和低动机，这些在实践中可能是困难的。解决这些障碍，城市规划和 公共卫生研究人员已经证明，社区的特点，促进健康， 鼓励健康行为的设施，如散步。绿地（公共和私人区域， 植被）就是这样一个社区特征，此前与降低阿尔茨海默氏症风险和减缓阿尔茨海默氏症相关 迄今为止发表的少数研究中的认知能力下降。贝瑟博士的短期研究目标是推进 该研究旨在评估社区绿地是否与老年人的大脑老化有关。的 K01的具体目标是确定是否生活在植被较多和更容易进入公园的社区 在生命的早期、中期和晚期， 认知正常的老年人，以及这些关联是否因性别、种族、载脂蛋白E基因型而异 （阿尔茨海默病的遗传风险因素）和地理区域。这项纵向观察性研究将 联合收割机结合来自三个阿尔茨海默病中心的临床和脑容量数据，邮寄问卷， 利用地理信息系统得出的邻里绿地措施。结果变量将 包括认知领域（情景记忆、语言、注意力、执行功能）和脑容量 测量（海马体积、白色高信号）。多水平线性混合模型将解释 邻域聚类和对混杂因素的控制（例如，人口统计学、邻里社会经济学 状态）。平行职业发展计划包括：1）学习发展重点社区建设 环境和大脑老化的措施; 2）推进和发展专业的初级数据收集技能; 3)获得衰老和认知神经科学的生物学和流行病学知识; 4）准备和 提交第一个R01提案; 5）培养多学科合作。贝瑟医生的机构 佛罗里达大西洋大学提供高度支持的环境，拥有所有必要的教师、教学人员、 财政和研究支持以及多学科和合作研究的丰富机会。的 主要导师和共同导师是神经学/老龄化研究和城市和 区域规划。Besser博士的机构环境，职业发展计划和具体目标是 非常适合使她的长期目标成为一个专家和独立的研究科学家， 一个建立的，创新的，R01资助的研究计划，专注于社区建筑环境，以支持 健康的大脑老化。

PROJECT ABSTRACT No treatments are available to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, which currently affects 5.8 million Americans. Alzheimer’s risk can be reduced through healthy diets, stress reduction and physical activity, yet maintaining these can be difficult in practice due to cost and low motivation. Addressing these barriers, urban planning and public health researchers have evidenced neighborhood characteristics that promote health by offering amenities encouraging health behaviors such as walking. Greenspace (public and private areas with vegetation) is one such neighborhood feature previously associated with reduced Alzheimer’s risk and slower cognitive decline in the few published studies to date. Dr. Besser’s short-term research goal is to advance the research on this topic, to assess if neighborhood greenspace is associated with brain aging in older adults. The K01 specific aims are to determine if living in neighborhoods with greater vegetation and better access to parks in early, mid, and late-life is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline and less brain atrophy in cognitively normal older adults, and whether these associations vary by sex, race, apolipoprotein E genotype (genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease), and geographic region. This longitudinal, observational study will combine clinical and brain volume data from three Alzheimer’s Disease Centers, a mailed questionnaire, and neighborhood greenspace measures derived using geographic information systems. Outcome variables will include cognitive domain (episodic memory, language, attention, executive function) and brain volume measures (hippocampal volume, white matter hyperintensities). Multi-level linear mixed models will account for neighborhood clustering and control for confounders (e.g., demographics, neighborhood socioeconomic status). The parallel career development plan involves: 1) learning to develop key neighborhood built environment and brain aging measures; 2) advancing and developing specialized primary data collection skills; 3) gaining knowledge in the biology and epidemiology of aging and cognitive neuroscience; 4) preparing and submitting the first R01 proposal; and 5) cultivating multidisciplinary collaborations. Dr. Besser’s institution, Florida Atlantic University, offers a highly supportive environment with all of the necessary faculty, teaching, financial, and research supports and rich opportunities for multidisciplinary and collaborative research. The primary mentor and co-mentor are experts in their respective fields of neurology/aging research and urban and regional planning. Dr. Besser’s institutional environment, career development plan, and specific aims are ideally suited to enable her long-term goal to become an expert and independent research scientist with an established, innovative, R01-funded research program focused on neighborhood built environments to support healthy brain aging.