Chronic Stressors, Brain Vasculature, and Cognitive Function in African-American Women

项目总结 该项目的总体目标是确定慢性心理社会应激源是否以及如何 对非裔美国女性阿尔茨海默病(AD)和中风的临床前相关性做出贡献 中年。有充分的证据表明，年长的非裔美国人患AD和中风的比例要高得多 比他们的非西班牙裔白人同龄人更多。然而，在大多数对65岁以上的人的研究中，这些 差异已经存在，这表明造成差异的因素发生在生命的更早阶段。 随着该领域转向理解认知老化的最早变化，拟议的项目提供了 在最近资助的一项研究中，研究不利大脑健康的新风险因素的前所未有的机会 35-45岁非裔美国女性血管老化的研究。我们将招募100名非洲人的子样本- 来自父母研究的不同教育背景的美国女性报告了高和低水平 慢性应激组，每组50只。将使用经过验证的调查问卷来衡量 总体而言，慢性压力以及已知的在非裔美国女性中常见的慢性应激源(即 歧视、经济压力、邻里压力和情感支持不足)。主要目标将 比较高压力女性和低压力女性在1)脑结构和血管系统(例如海马体)的测量上的差异 体积和皮质醇厚度、微血管疾病、脑血流)使用最先进的磁性 磁共振成像(MRI)技术；以及2)认知功能，使用简短的神经心理电池。 我们还将检查是否已建立(夜间血压、动脉僵硬)和新(再生) 能力)总体血管风险标记物影响目标中非裔美国女性的这些结果 年龄范围。该R21项目的总体目标是获得更大的、预期的、R01- 资助的研究。这项研究计划的长期目标是了解影响和途径 在一个研究不足但易受伤害的人群中，慢性应激通过这种方式增加AD和中风的风险 女人。

PROJECT SUMMARY The overall goal of this project is to determine whether and how chronic psychosocial stressors might contribute to pre-clinical correlates of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and stroke in African-American women at midlife. It is well documented that older African-Americans have significantly higher rates of AD and stroke than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. However, in most studies of individuals over age 65, these disparities are already present, suggesting that factors responsible for the disparity occur much earlier in life. As the field has shifted to understanding the earliest changes in cognitive aging, the proposed project provides an unprecedented opportunity to investigate novel risk factors for adverse brain health in a recently funded study of vascular aging in African-American women aged 35-45. We will recruit a subsample of 100 African- American women of varying educational backgrounds from the parent study reporting high and low levels of chronic stress, respectively (N=50 from each group). Validated questionnaires will be utilized to measure overall chronic stress as well as chronic stressors known to be common among African-American women (i.e. discrimination, financial strain, neighborhood stressors and inadequate emotional support). Primary aims will compare high vs. low stress women on 1) measures of brain structure and vasculature (e.g. hippocampal volume and corticol thickness, microvascular disease, cerebral blood flow) using state of the art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques; as well as 2) cognitive function, using a brief neuropsychological battery. We will also examine whether established (nocturnal blood pressure, arterial stiffness) and novel (regenerative capacity) markers of overall vascular risk impact these outcomes among African-American women in the target age range. The overall objective of this R21 project is to obtain effect sizes for a larger, prospective, R01- funded study. The long-term goal of this program of research is to understand the impact of and pathways through which chronic stress contributes to risk for AD and stroke in an understudied, yet vulnerable group of women.