Cognitive Resilience among Older Samoans

项目摘要 老年萨摩亚人是获得认知复原力知识的独特人群。痴呆 据报道，在这些国家中发生率很低。此外，我们最近从独立萨摩亚获得的试验数据表明， 研究发现，尽管老年萨摩亚人的记忆力得分存在差异，但老年萨摩亚人的记忆力得分并不存在差异。 与年轻的萨摩亚人有很大不同。拟议的研究将审查可能导致这一情况的因素 认知弹性：（a）萨摩亚文化中占主导地位的独特积极的年龄观念;（B）最近 确定了CREBRF基因变异（rs373863828），发生在45%的萨摩亚人中，但在不到1%的非萨摩亚人中， 萨摩亚人 以前的研究支持我们的假设，这些文化和遗传因素将有助于认知 resilience.主要研究者进行了第一项研究，以证明基于培养的阳性年龄 信仰预测较低的压力和更好的老化认知健康，包括较低的风险发展阿尔茨海默氏症- 疾病生物标志物和痴呆症。这一年龄信念-认知发现得到了三项荟萃分析的支持， 但还没有在萨摩亚人中进行过研究。此外，我们的试点数据与老年人生活在独立 萨摩亚的研究表明，CREBRF基因变异体可以预测出更好的认知得分， 已经表明这种基因变异与2型糖尿病和空腹血糖水平较低有关， 与较低的痴呆风险有关。此外，基因变异是一个更大机制的一部分，存在于 每个人，这导致大脑神经可塑性的发展。因为有利的环境因素可以 增加这种神经可塑性，积极的年龄信念（往往是从文化中吸收）可能会刺激 CREBRF基因变体的神经可塑性。 因此，我们的具体目标，这将是第一次进行，是检查是否老化的认知 弹性预测：（a）更大的坚持普遍的积极萨摩亚老龄化的信念;（B） CREBRF基因变体;（c）积极年龄信念和基因变体的协同相互作用;和（d）结构性- 水平因子（即，西化、年龄歧视和对他人有用）以及个人层面的因素（即，民族 身份和年龄信念的自我相关性）作为基因-文化相互作用的调节者。 我们将评估CREBRF基因变异和基线年龄信念，以及三个年龄段的认知弹性。 在750名60岁以上的萨摩亚人中，我们将从以下每个人中招募三分之一（在提升中 西方化的顺序）：独立萨摩亚，美属萨摩亚和加利福尼亚州的旧金山弗朗西斯科。 这项拟议中的研究有可能有益于认知老化健康，因为它可以确定一组 可修改的年龄信念和干预的主持人，并确定一个新的生物途径，以认知 所有老年人的复原力。

PROJECT SUMMARY Older Samoans are a unique population for gaining knowledge about cognitive resilience. Dementia has been reported as occurring at low rates among them. Further, our recent pilot data from Independent Samoa found that although there was variability in their memory scores, older Samoans had scores that did not significantly differ from younger Samoans. The proposed study will examine factors that might contribute to this cognitive resilience: (a) unique positive age beliefs that predominate in Samoan culture; and (b) the recently identified CREBRF gene variant (rs373863828) that occurs in 45% of Samoans, but in less than 1% of non- Samoans. Previous research supports our premise that these cultural and genetic factors will contribute to cognitive resilience. The Principal Investigator conducted the first studies to demonstrate that culture-based positive age beliefs predict lower stress and better aging cognitive health, including lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s- disease biomarkers and dementia. This age belief-cognition finding has been supported by three meta-analyses, but has not been studied among Samoans. Additionally, our pilot data with older persons living in Independent Samoa showed the CREBRF gene variant predicted significantly better cognitive scores, and previous studies have shown this gene variant is associated with lower levels of type 2 diabetes and fasting blood glucose, both of which are associated with lower dementia risk. Further, the gene variant is part of a larger mechanism, present in everyone, that leads to the development of brain neuroplasticity. Because favorable environmental factors can increase this neuroplasticity, positive age beliefs (which tend to be assimilated from culture) may stimulate the neuroplasticity property of the CREBRF gene variant. Thus, our Specific Aims, which will be carried out for the first time, are to examine whether aging cognitive resilience is predicted by: (a) greater adherence to the prevailing positive Samoan aging beliefs; (b) the CREBRF gene variant; (c) a synergistic interaction of positive age beliefs and the gene variant; and (d) structural- level factors (i.e., Westernization, ageism and usefulness to others) as well as individual-level factors (i.e., ethnic identity and self-relevance of age beliefs) acting as moderators of a gene-culture interaction. We will assess the CREBRF gene variant and age beliefs at baseline, and cognitive resilience across three years, among 750 Samoans, aged 60 and older. We will recruit one third from each of the following (in ascending order of Westernization): Independent Samoa, American Samoa and San Francisco, CA. The proposed research has the potential to benefit cognitive aging health because it could identify a set of modifiable age beliefs and moderators for interventions and identify a new biological pathway to cognitive resilience in all older persons.