Leveraging Neuroimaging Biomarkers to Understand the Role of Social Networks in Alzheimer's Disease

项目总结 该项目的目标是了解个人社交网络动态在 轻度认知障碍(MCI)和阿尔茨海默病的病因及临床进展 (Ad)。我们建议将社会行为和生物学机制定性为 社会网络与衰老相关神经病理的关系。AD与痴呆症的关系 对个人、家庭和医疗保健系统造成毁灭性的损失。一个临界点 干预AD的是社会环境，有可能缓和潜在的潜在危险 神经病理学，改变痴呆症的典型认知过程。积极的社交互动- 包括知己数量、社交联系频率、支持和社交参与度-是 与患痴呆症的风险降低和认知能力下降的轨迹有关 确诊的个体。然而，现有的文献依赖的是有限的、单一的 社会相互作用的衡量标准，尚未考虑潜在的生物学作用 神经变性，早在可观察到的临床认知症状之前就表现出来 痴呆症。拟议的项目通过三个具体目标解决这些差距：目标1是确定 社会网络特征与神经退行性变(QNP)之间的基线关联。 目标2是检查个人社交网络动态和个人社交网络动态之间的纵向关系 神经退行性改变。目标3是评估个人共同进化的替代模型。 临床认知功能衰退轨迹中的社会网络和神经退行性改变。这个 建议的研究是跨学科的，结合了来自社会和 生物医学科学，并利用AD、神经成像和 网络科学。通过增加我们对生物学和社会性之间联系的理解 该项目可能有助于确定新的干预目标，以减轻AD的负担 关于个人、家庭和医疗保健系统。

PROJECT SUMMARY The goal of the proposed project is to understand the role of personal social network dynamics in the etiology and clinical progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease (AD). We propose to characterize social-behavioral and biological mechanisms underlying relationships between social networks and aging-related neuropathology. AD and dementia takes a devastating toll on individuals, families, and the health care system. A critical point of intervention in AD is the social environment, which has the potential to moderate underlying neuropathology, altering the typical cognitive course of dementia. Positive social interaction – including number of confidants, frequency of social contact, support, and social engagement – is associated with reduced risk for dementia and a slower trajectory of cognitive decline among diagnosed individuals. However, the existing literature relies on limited and unidimensional measures of social interaction, and has yet to consider the role of underlying biological neurodegeneration, which manifests long before observable clinical cognitive symptoms of dementia. The proposed project addresses these gaps via three specific aims: Aim 1 is to identify baseline associations between social network characteristics and neurodegeneration (QNPs). Aim 2 is to examine longitudinal relationships between personal social network dynamics and neurodegenerative changes. Aim 3 is to evaluate alternative models of the coevolution of personal social networks and neurodegenerative changes in trajectories of clinical cognitive decline. The proposed study is interdisciplinary, combining leading-edge methods from the social and biomedical sciences, and leveraging the resources of funded centers for AD, neuroimaging, and network science. By increasing our understanding of the links between biological and social processes, this project may help identify novel targets for intervention to reduce the burden of AD on individuals, families, and the health care system.