Aging and Autobiographical Memory in Bilingual and Monolingual Hispanics.

项目摘要/摘要 美国的西班牙裔将经历阿尔茨海默病(AD)的最大增长 在接下来的40年里诊断。开发神经心理测试，以提高检测的准确性 在这一人群中发现与年龄相关的认知功能减退和阿尔茨海默病的早期症状对于解决这一问题至关重要 迫在眉睫的社会和医疗危机。对大多数非西班牙裔白人群体的研究表明， 情节自传体记忆是对独特生活事件的记忆，对正常认知很敏感 衰老和阿尔茨海默病风险。有趣的是，插曲的自传体记忆可能是一种非常适合文化的记忆，而且 因此，对拉美裔美国人与年龄相关的认知衰退和AD风险的准确认知测量，因为它得出了 在真实世界的“个性化”活动上，而不是更多的人工和潜在的文化负载的学习 上下文(例如，单词列表)。然而，关于情节式的自传体记忆几乎一无所知。 西班牙裔。鉴于在美国的大多数拉美裔美国人都会说两种语言，看看插曲是如何发生的 自传体记忆和双语能力是相关的，这一点也很重要。因此，最重要的目标是 这项拟议的研究是首次在美国的一个样本中调查情节自传体记忆。 双语和单一语言的拉美裔美国人，同时检查可能影响记忆的相关因素 性能。我将通过三个目标来实现这一目标。在第一个目标下，我问了一个问题：“是插曲的 美国拉美裔美国人的自传体记忆对年龄敏感吗？在目标2中，我调查了双语是否 与西班牙裔美国人的情节自传体记忆有关。最后，通过Aim 3，这是一个探索性的 目的：我考察了拉美裔美国人的情节自传体记忆是否在编码时受到语言的调节 /检索或是否与抑制有关。我希望通过解决这些目标，我们将推出插曲 自传体记忆测试是一种新的神经心理学方法，通过它可以准确地捕获 美国拉美裔美国人与年龄相关的记忆力下降，这可能为进一步研究 这一人群中AD风险的认知概况。与国家卫生研究院的目标一致，以增强 生物医学劳动力的多样性，这一奖学金的培训目标旨在显著推进 我的目标是成为一名临床神经心理学家和独立研究员，其研究和临床 实践将有助于更好地理解如何改善记忆障碍的评估和 美国拉美裔美国人的其他神经退行性疾病。此外，通过拟议的培训机会，我 预计我将：1)为开发新的神经心理学方法做出贡献，这些措施可以改善 对西班牙裔记忆障碍早期检测的敏感性；2)学习如何建立持久的记忆障碍 大学、诊所和社区之间的关系；3)在评估和 拉美裔美国人的治疗；以及4)提高我在指导开放和可重复的科学方面的技能。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Hispanics in the United States (US) will experience the greatest increase in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnoses in the next four decades. Developing neuropsychological tests that can improve accurate detection of age-related cognitive decline and early signs of AD in this population is essential for addressing this impending social and healthcare crisis. Studies with majority non-Hispanic white populations have shown that episodic autobiographical memory, which is memory for unique life events, is sensitive to normal cognitive aging and AD risk. Intriguingly, episodic autobiographical memory may be a highly culturally appropriate, and thus accurate, cognitive measure of age-related cognitive decline and AD risk for Hispanics, because it draws on real-world, “personalized” events as opposed to more artificial and potentially culturally loaded learning contexts (e.g., word lists). However, virtually nothing is known about episodic autobiographical memory in Hispanics. Given that the majority of Hispanics in the US are bilingual, examining how episodic autobiographical memory and bilingualism are related is important as well. Therefore, the overarching goal of the proposed research is to investigate, for the first time, episodic autobiographical memory in a US sample of bilingual and monolingual Hispanics, while examining related factors that might influence memory performance. I will address this goal through three aims. Under the first aim, I ask the question “is episodic autobiographical memory sensitive to age in US Hispanics?” With aim 2, I investigate if bilingualism is associated with episodic autobiographical memory in Hispanics. Finally, through aim 3, which is an exploratory aim, I examine whether episodic autobiographical memory in Hispanics is modulated by language at encoding / retrieval or if it is related to inhibition. My hope is that by addressing these aims, we will introduce episodic autobiographical memory testing as a novel neuropsychological approach through which to accurately capture age-related memory decline in US Hispanics, which can set the stage for further work on characterizing the cognitive profile of AD risk in this population. In line with the goal of the National Institutes of Health to enhance diversity in the biomedical workforce, the training goals for this fellowship are intended to significantly advance my goals to become a clinical neuropsychologist and independent researcher whose research and clinical practice will contribute to a better understanding of how to improve the evaluation of memory disorders and other neurodegenerative diseases in US Hispanics. In addition, through the proposed training opportunities, I anticipate that I will: 1) contribute to the development of novel neuropsychological measures that improve sensitivity to the early detection of memory disorders in Hispanics; 2) learn how to establish lasting relationships between the university, clinic, and community; 3) embrace best practice in the assessment and treatment of Hispanics; and 4) improve my skills in conducting open and reproducible science.