Factors of Resilience to Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias among Latinx: The Role of Bilingualism

项目总结/摘要 随着人口老龄化，拉丁裔社区，家庭和医疗保健系统将面临 阿尔茨海默病和相关痴呆症（ADRD）的日益严重的危机。确定赋予复原力的因素 在老龄化的拉丁裔社区中进行ADRD对于成功减少差距至关重要。一些 研究发现，与单语者相比，双语者的AD风险降低，但其他研究没有发现 双语优势的证据。很少有人关注双语者的组内差异， 如第二语言习得年龄、熟练程度和语言使用频率，以及这些因素是如何影响语言习得的 差异1）与老年人的认知功能有关，2）如果它们缓冲了神经病理学对 认知能力下降，以及3）AD中的认知能力下降如何影响双语者的语言使用。 确定双语能力的各个方面，赋予抗AD能力，可能会导致新的干预措施， 缓解认知老化和ADRD差异。本研究的总体目标是确定 双语能力的各个方面，包括习得年龄、语言使用和熟练程度， 病理学的神经成像标记（即，AD生物标志物和脑血管疾病）对认知和 中年和老年拉丁裔成年人的认知能力下降。中心假设是L2的早期年龄 获得，更多的日常使用L1和L2，以及更高的L2熟练度将赋予认知储备， 独立于混杂的社会文化因素（即，教育、社会经济地位、移民）。目标1a 和1b（K99）的重点是确定双语的哪些方面与认知有关， 调节影像学标记物与认知之间的关系。目标2a和2b（R 00）建议， 确定双语和认知下降的成像标记之间的关系，并确定 认知状态的变化是否与双语能力的变化有关。拟定的研究将 协调目前入组三个纵向队列的Latinx成人的数据， tau PET、MRI和认知评估：后代研究和华盛顿高地-因伍德哥伦比亚研究 哥伦比亚大学老龄化项目和加州大学戴维斯分校多样性老龄化队列。到 实现这些目标，申请人将建立在他的优势，文化神经心理学，健康差异， 和统计方法，通过在K99阶段获得培训，1）扩大认知的知识， 双语的神经科学和心理语言学; 2）神经成像数据建模; 3）操作化 和测量老龄化拉丁裔人口的弹性;以及4）加强统计方法， 数据协调，因果推理方法和潜在变量建模。此K99/R 00提案奠定了 一个独立的研究生涯的基础，重点是保护因素的机制， 双语和双文化在不同人群认知老化中的作用。

Project Summary/Abstract As the population ages, Latinx communities, families, and healthcare systems will be confronted by the growing crisis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Identifying factors that confer resilience to ADRD among aging Latinx communities is of critical importance to successfully reduce disparities. Some studies find that bilinguals are at reduced AD risk compared to monolinguals, but other studies do not find evidence of a bilingual advantage. Little attention has been given to within-group differences among bilinguals, such as age of second language (L2) acquisition, proficiency, and frequency of language use, and how these differences 1) are related to cognitive function in older age, 2) if they buffer the effects of neuropathology on cognitive decline, and 3) how cognitive decline in AD can influence language use among bilinguals. Determination of the aspects of bilingualism that confer resilience to AD could lead to novel interventions to mitigate cognitive aging and ADRD disparities. The overall aim of this proposed research is to determine whether aspects of bilingualism, including age of acquisition, language use, and proficiency, buffer the effects of neuroimaging markers of pathology (i.e., AD biomarkers and cerebrovascular disease) on cognition and cognitive decline within middle- and older-aged Latinx adults. The central hypothesis is that early age of L2 acquisition, greater daily use of both L1 and L2, and greater L2 proficiency will confer cognitive reserve, independent of confounding sociocultural factors (i.e., education, socioeconomic status, immigration). Aims 1a and 1b (K99) focus on identifying which aspects of bilingualism are associated with cognition and which moderate the relationship between imaging markers and cognition. Aims 2a and 2b (R00) proposes to determine the relationship between bilingualism and imaging markers on cognitive decline and determine whether change in cognitive status is associated with changes in bilingualism. The proposed study will harmonize data from Latinx adults currently enrolled in three longitudinal cohorts with available amyloid and tau PET, MRI, and cognitive assessments: the Offspring study and the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project at Columbia University, and the University of California-Davis Diversity Aging Cohort. To accomplish these goals, the applicant will build on his strengths in cultural neuropsychology, health disparities, and statistical methods by obtaining training during the K99 phase on 1) expanding knowledge of the cognitive neuroscience and psycholinguistics of bilingualism; 2) modeling neuroimaging data; 3) the operationalization and measurement of resilience among aging Latinx populations; and 4) enhancing statistical methods focused on data harmonization, casual inference methods and latent variable modeling. This K99/R00 proposal lays the foundation for an independent research career focused on mechanisms underlying the protective factors of bilingualism and biculturalism in cognitive aging in a diverse population.