Racial and gender disparities in sleep as modifiable determinants of cognitive aging.

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PROJECT SUMMARY The goal of this fellowship is to prepare the applicant, Afsara Zaheed, for an independent research career focused on the biopsychosocial determinants of cognitive aging in order to improve cognitive health among older adults and eliminate racial disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). To that end, the proposed fellowship consists of two complementary components: (1) a research project that will further our understanding of the role of sleep in late-life cognitive disparities, and (2) a training plan comprising formal training, mentorship, hands-on research, manuscript publications, clinical practica, and professional development activities. The applicant will be supported by a strong mentorship team with primary sponsors at the University of Michigan’s Departments of Psychology and Neurology and consultants from the UM Institute for Social Research and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Together, the mentorship team will provide expertise in cognitive aging, ADRD disparities, sleep, and the epidemiology of ADRD. The training program will help the applicant: a) develop expertise in determinants of brain-behavior relationships, focusing on racial disparities and the role of sleep on cognitive aging; b) develop strong methodological skills in epidemiological data collection and multivariate data analysis; and c) engage in the dissemination of research findings and networking within the broader sleep and cognitive aging research communities. ADRD pose a significant public health concern, and the current lack of disease modifying treatment calls for the identification of potentially modifiable risk and protective factors to promote healthy cognitive aging. The presence of sleep disturbances in late-life have been identified as a salient risk factor for cognitive impairments, and epidemiological research has shown that certain racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately burdened by both sleep disturbances and ADRD. However, little is known about how disparities in sleep relate to disparities in late-life cognition. Thus, the proposed project will examine: 1) whether sleep disturbances mediate the effects of race on late-life cognition; 2) whether associations among race, sleep, and cognition are modified by sex/gender; and 3) whether patterns of associations are robust across multiple datasets. All aims will be investigated in the Michigan Study of Cognitive Aging in Diverse Elders (MSCADE, a regional cohort study of non-Hispanic black and white older adults in Southeastern Michigan) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, a national cohort study of older adults in the US). The proposed research directly addresses Goals D and F of the NIA Strategic Directions for Research on Aging, which calls for more research on 1) the influence of contexts on older adults’ cognitive functioning and mechanisms involved in brain aging (including the role of sleep); and 2) understanding health disparities among older adults. Our findings will have the potential to promote healthy cognitive aging and reduce racial disparities in ADRD by identifying sleep as a potentially modifiable target for intervention.