The impact of the Environment and Pollution On Cognitive Health (EPOCH): Building the knowledge base through international collaboration

痴呆症是一种与认知功能下降和功能能力丧失有关的综合症，已被认为是全球老龄化社会的一个关键问题。为了制定降低认知衰退和痴呆症风险的策略，大量研究已经确定了几种维持认知功能和健康状态的生活方式因素(例如，体力活动和社交)，以及一些对认知功能有害的慢性疾病(例如，高血压和糖尿病)。由于建成环境--人造基础设施和设施，如街道网络和公共交通--可在影响健康行为和预防肥胖和非传染性疾病方面发挥关键作用，因此必须调查建成环境对老年人认知健康的潜在影响，并进一步考虑其他相关环境特征，如自然环境(绿色和蓝色空间等非人造环境)和污染(空气污染物和噪音)。最近的研究表明，充满活力、高密度、目的地丰富的邻里环境可以为老年居民提供参与有益于认知健康的身体、社会和精神活动的机会。然而，这种环境也与与交通相关的污染和噪音的有害水平有关，这些污染和噪音被发现对认知能力下降和痴呆症有负面影响。必须了解邻里环境中这些复杂和相互作用的因素及其对认知健康的联合影响，并确定减少认知衰退加速和防止认知障碍和痴呆症发展的关键环境因素。这些证据将为多层次、多部门的预防战略提供信息，以通过改善城市规划和设计、交通系统、环境保护做法和公共卫生干预措施来应对与人口老龄化和痴呆症负担有关的挑战。为了解决这些知识差距，该项目的目的是调查建筑环境、自然环境和污染之间的复杂关系及其对晚年认知健康的潜在影响。利用健康和社会科学的跨学科数据资源，该项目将创建整合英国和澳大利亚环境和个人健康数据的创新数据集。还将开发新的分析方法，以调查(1)社区的不同环境因素如何影响老年人的认知能力下降和痴呆症；(2)生活方式行为(参与身体、社会和精神活动的程度)如何解释社区环境对认知健康的影响；(3)社区环境的影响是否取决于性别、社会经济状况和痴呆症的遗传易感性。类似的研究方法和分析方法将在英国和澳大利亚的不同人群中进行，以提供可比较的结果，供跨国比较。这一国际合作将最大限度地发挥在环境、认知和老龄化研究领域培养下一代研究人员的潜力，并为未来的研究和创新创建一个跨学科网络。该项目的成果将有助于促进环境、认知和老龄化研究的知识和方法，并加强基于证据的战略，以降低认知功能加速下降的风险，防止向认知障碍和痴呆症的进展。

Dementia, a syndrome related to a decline in cognitive function and loss of functional ability, has been recognised to be a critical issue in ageing societies across the globe. To develop strategies for reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, a large body of research has identified several lifestyle factors that maintain cognitive function and health status (e.g., physical activity and social interaction), and some chronic conditions with detrimental effects on cognitive function (e.g., hypertension and diabetes). Since the built environment - human-made infrastructures and facilities, such as street network and public transport - can play a key role in influencing health behaviours and prevention of obesity and non-communicable diseases, it is important to investigate the potential impact of the built environment on cognitive health in older people and further consider other related environmental characteristics, such as the natural environment (non-human made surroundings such as green and blue spaces) and pollution (air pollutants and noise). Recent studies have suggested that vibrant, high-density, destination-rich neighbourhood environments can provide opportunities for older residents to engage in physical, social and mental activities that benefit cognitive health. However, such environments are also associated with harmful levels of traffic-related pollution and noise, which are found to have a negative influence on cognitive decline and dementia. It is essential to understand these complex and interacting factors in neighbourhood environments and their joint impact on cognitive health and identify key environmental factors that reduce the acceleration of cognitive decline and prevent the development of cognitive impairment and dementia. This evidence will inform multi-level, multi-sectoral prevention strategies to address challenges related to population ageing and burden of dementia through the improvement of urban planning and design, the transportation system, environmental protection practices and public health interventions.To address these knowledge gaps, the aim of this project is to investigate the complex relationships between the built environment, natural environment and pollution and their potential impact on cognitive health in later life. Utilising interdisciplinary data resources from the health and social sciences, the project will create innovative datasets integrating environmental and individual health data in the UK and Australia. Novel analytical methods will also be developed to investigate (1) how different environmental factors in neighbourhoods can influence cognitive decline and dementia in older people; (2) how lifestyle behaviours (levels of engagement in physical, social and mental activities) can explain the impact of neighbourhood environments on cognitive health; (3) whether the effects of neighbourhood environments depend on sex, socioeconomic status and genetic predisposition to dementia. Similar research methods and analytical approaches will be carried out in different populations across the UK and Australia to provide comparable results for cross-country comparison. The international collaboration will maximise the potential for developing the next generation of researchers in the environment, cognition and ageing research fields and create a cross-disciplinary network for future research and innovations. The outputs of this project will contribute to knowledge and methodologies that will advance research on environment, cognition and ageing and enhance evidence-based strategies to reduce the risk of accelerated decline in cognitive function and prevent the progression toward cognitive impairment and dementia.