The Effects of Moderate Alcohol Use In Age Related Cognitive Decline

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究将测量适度饮酒对老年人（e65，d80岁）与年龄相关的认知能力下降的影响。酒精的使用会对日常生活的几个方面产生负面影响，包括做出决定的能力，短期和长期的记忆力以及注意力。正常的衰老过程也被证明会影响这些行为，导致所谓的与年龄相关的认知能力下降。老年人的酒精消费量正在上升。这部分是由于在上个世纪对社交饮酒的态度越来越宽容。这项研究将测量适度饮酒对老年人重要认知能力的影响。将通过将网络理论原理应用于在休息和工作记忆任务执行期间收集的功能磁共振成像大脑数据来测量大脑区域之间的功能连接。这是一种新颖而全面的方法，可以分析像大脑一样相互连接的系统中的功能信息。本研究将探讨驾驶假说，中度老年饮酒者将表现出更大的年龄相关的认知缺陷比低老年饮酒者。我们预测，认知缺陷将与大脑功能连接的可测量变化有关。了解老年社交饮酒如何影响与年龄相关的认知能力下降，将有助于识别因饮酒而有加速损伤风险的成年人。我的总体培训目标是成为一个有效的和创新的研究人员在人类酒精消费的研究，并最终，滥用。作为本提案的一部分，所接受的培训将有助于发展实现我的目标所需的技能和知识框架。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research will measure the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on age-related cognitive decline in older adults (e65, d80 years old). Alcohol use can negatively affect several aspects of everyday life, including the ability to make decisions, remember in both the short and long term, and pay attention. The normal aging process has also been shown to affect these behaviors, contributing to what is referred to as age-related cognitive decline. Alcohol consumption in older adults is on the rise. This is in part due to a progressively more permissive attitude towards social drinking over the last century. This study will measure the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on important cognitive abilities in older adults. Functional connectivity among brain areas will be measured by applying network theory principles to functional magnetic resonance imaging brain data collected during rest and working memory task performance. This is a novel and comprehensive way of analyzing functional information in systems that are as interconnected as the brain. This study will explore the driving hypothesis that moderate older drinkers will demonstrate greater age-related cognitive deficits than low older drinkers. We predict that cognitive deficits will be relaed to measurable changes in functional brain connectivity. Understanding how social drinking in older age affects age-related cognitive decline will help identify adults who are at risk of accelerating impairments due to alcohol consumption. My overarching training goal is to become an effective and innovative researcher in the study of human alcohol consumption and eventually, abuse. The training received as part of this proposal will help develop the skills and the intellectual framework necessary to achieve my goal.