Lifestyle and Cognition: A Large Scale Intervention Approach

生活方式和认知：大规模干预方法

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-05878
• 负责人: Owen, Adrian
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=687833
• 关键词: Lifestyle; Cognition; Large; Scale; Intervention

One of the best predictors of life quality, including academic and work success, happiness and even life expectancy is overall cognitive functioning; the better an individual performs on tests of cognition, the better their quality of life. Unsurprisingly then, there is a strong drive to find associations between life-style factors and improvements in cognition, although where associations are suggested, the promise frequently exceeds the scientific evidence. To date, the most encouraging avenues of research have pointed to better sleep and more exercise as predictors, but evidence is mixed about numerous other hypotheses (e.g., diet, meditation, cognitive training). Moreover, most studies in this field have been confined to the laboratory, and have examined only a single life-style factor (e.g., exercise) within a specific population (e.g., the elderly). To really understand the relationship between life-style factors and cognition, large-scale studies are required, which cannot be conducted in a laboratory setting. ******Through several recently published studies, we have demonstrated that online cognitive testing provides unprecedented opportunities for exploring human cognition on a massive scale among the general population. We have used our online cognitive testing platform, Cambridge Brain Sciences, to assess cognition in more than 1.5 million users who have completed 8 million tests, in addition to providing comprehensive information about their background, demographics, and lifestyle. In this proposal, we outline how we will now leverage this database to test a multitude of mainstream hypotheses about the relationship between specific life-style factors, such as sleep, exercise, and cognitive training, and cognition. We will also mine these data to identify novel relationships, and conduct intervention-based follow-up studies to determine the validity, reliability, and size of these effects. Finally, we will conduct brain imaging studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to examine how the relationship between life-style factors and cognition is underpinned by adaptive changes in brain structure and function. ******The results of this research program will be of interest to educators, policy makers, human resource professionals, psychologists, cognitive neuroscientists and anyone in the general population with an interest in cognition and the brain. Our findings are likely to pave the way for scientifically validated interventions and programs to help individuals optimize or improve their cognitive functioning. Finally, we outline how the results of this research program will provide an entirely new paradigm for future scientists to explore human cognition.

整体认知功能是生活质量（包括学业和工作上的成功、幸福感甚至预期寿命）的最佳预测指标之一；一个人在认知测试中表现得越好，他的生活质量就越好。因此，不出所料，人们强烈希望找到生活方式因素与认知能力提高之间的联系，尽管在提出联系的地方，这种希望往往超出了科学证据。迄今为止，最令人鼓舞的研究途径已经指出，更好的睡眠和更多的锻炼是预测因素，但关于许多其他假设（例如，饮食、冥想、认知训练）的证据不一。此外，这一领域的大多数研究都局限于实验室，并且只在特定人群（例如老年人）中检查了单一的生活方式因素（例如运动）。为了真正了解生活方式因素与认知之间的关系，需要进行大规模的研究，而这在实验室环境中是无法进行的。******通过最近发表的几项研究，我们已经证明，在线认知测试为在普通人群中大规模探索人类认知提供了前所未有的机会。我们使用剑桥脑科学在线认知测试平台，评估了150多万用户的认知能力，这些用户已经完成了800万次测试，此外还提供了有关他们的背景、人口统计和生活方式的综合信息。在本提案中，我们概述了我们将如何利用这个数据库来测试关于特定生活方式因素（如睡眠、锻炼和认知训练）与认知之间关系的众多主流假设。我们还将挖掘这些数据，以确定新的关系，并进行基于干预的随访研究，以确定这些影响的有效性、可靠性和大小。最后，我们将使用磁共振成像（MRI）进行脑成像研究，以研究生活方式因素与认知之间的关系是如何通过大脑结构和功能的适应性变化来支撑的。******这个研究项目的结果将引起教育工作者、政策制定者、人力资源专业人士、心理学家、认知神经科学家和任何对认知和大脑感兴趣的人的兴趣。我们的发现可能为科学验证的干预和计划铺平道路，以帮助个人优化或改善他们的认知功能。最后，我们概述了这个研究项目的结果将如何为未来的科学家探索人类认知提供一个全新的范式。