Active Interventions for the Aging Mind

描述(由申请人提供)：有相当多的社会和行为数据本质上是相关的，表明在成年中后期深入参与社会和智力活动的人，在正常的年龄相关认知下降以及痴呆症的发病方面表现出延迟。本项目名为“积极干预大脑”，旨在对成年后期持续参与对认知的影响提供首批实验测试之一。在AIM项目中，我们区分了生产性参与(需要持续激活认知资源，如工作记忆、推理和长期记忆的活动，通常在社交环境中)和接受性参与(主要依赖现有知识和社交互动的参与)。基于一项成功的试点计划，我们建议将老年人纳入密集的生产性参与条件(例如，学习被子或使用数码摄影)、接受性参与条件(例如，参与休闲活动对资源需求较低的主要社交项目)或控制条件(等待名单或安慰剂控制，其中低水平的认知活动在家里进行)。除等待名单控制组外，所有受试者将在16周内每周参加15小时的活动。我们将把生产性投入组的认知、情感和神经功能与其他条件进行比较，并假设在这段时间内持续投入到智力和社交刺激的条件下，相对于等待名单控制，将促进老年人的认知。此外，由于学习一项新技能和建立新的社交关系可能会永久性地影响参与者的日常行为，因此将在最初和一年后评估参与的影响。将对认知变化的行为和神经测量进行评估，提供对变化机制的相当深入的了解。受试者将在认知功能的行为测试、通过结构成像测量大脑结构、通过功能神经成像测量大脑功能以及心理社会变量方面进行彻底的表征。AIM项目是第一次系统地尝试改变老年人的生活方式，然后在持续的一段时间内测量老年人的生活方式，试图了解有助于成年后期认知和神经活力的生活方式因素，就像我们了解有助于良好心血管健康的生活方式因素一样。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a considerable amount of social and behavioral data that is correlational in nature suggesting that individuals who are deeply engaged in social and intellectual activities in mid and late adulthood show delays in normal age-related cognitive decline as well as in the onset of dementia. The present project entitled "Active Interventions for the Mind" is designed to provide one of the first experimental tests of the impact of sustained engagement on cognition in late adulthood. In the AIM project, we distinguish between productive engagement (engaging activities that require sustained activation of cognitive resources such as working memory, reasoning, and long-term memory, often in a social setting) and receptive engagement (engagement that relies primarily on existing knowledge and social interactions). Based on a successful pilot program, we propose to enroll older adults in intensive productive engagement conditions (e.g., learning to quilt or to use digital photography) a receptive engagement condition (e.g., participating in a primarily social program where leisure activities have low resource requirements), or control conditions (Wait-List or Placebo Control where low level cognitive activities are performed at home). All subjects except Wait-List controls will engage in activities 15 hours per week over a period of 16 weeks. We will contrast cognitive, affective and neural function in the productive engagement group with the other conditions, and hypothesize that sustained engagement in conditions that are both intellectually and socially stimulating over this time period will facilitate cognition in older adults relative to a wait-list control. Moreover, because learning a new skill and making new social contacts may permanently impact participants' daily behavior, the impact of the engagement will be assessed initially as well as a year later. Both behavioral and neural measures of cognitive change will be assessed, providing considerable insight into mechanisms of change. Subjects will be characterized thoroughly in terms of behavioral tests of cognitive function, measures of brain structure through structural imaging, and measures of brain function through functional neuroimaging, as well as in terms of psychosocial variables.. The AIM project represents one of the first systematic attempt to change and then measure older adults' lifestyle for a sustained period in an attempt to understand lifestyle factors that contribute to cognitive and neural vitality in late adulthood, much as we understand lifestyle factors that contribute to good cardiovascular health.