Examining Cerebral Blood Flow as a Mechanism for the Effects of African Dance on Executive Function

摘要 非裔美国人患阿尔茨海默氏症的可能性几乎是白人(即白人)的两倍 疾病或其他痴呆。对于65岁以上的人，认知障碍的患病率为8.8% 白人和非裔美国人的比例分别为23.9%和23.9%。即使在55-的年龄范围内，非裔美国人也是4倍 与年龄匹配的白人相比，他们更有可能经历认知障碍。一道工序 据信，造成这种差异的原因是与年龄相关的脑血流量下降，这是 对执行职能的表现尤其有害。由此产生了一个严重的公共卫生问题 我们打算在本提案中解决的统计数据：是否有有效的方法来减少或消除 在认知和大脑健康方面的种族差异，以及这种方法是否通过增加大脑血液起作用 心流？幸运的是，体力活动(PA)干预可能在改善神经认知功能方面有效 并降低患痴呆症的风险。尽管有这些有希望的结果，PA可能改善的机制 神经认知功能尚不清楚。此外，此前巴勒斯坦权力机构的干预几乎没有非洲人参与 美国人很难根据种族对结果进行分层，以确定非裔美国人是否对 PA的方式和规模与白人相似。术语‘体力活动’和‘锻炼’通常是 被认为是令人不快、痛苦和疲惫的，这会对兴趣、入学和长期- 任期坚持。在不使用术语PA(例如，跳舞)的情况下增加PA的方法在以下方面可能有效 改善健康结果，同时对翻译和长期 坚持不懈。在这里，我们提出了一种创新的、对文化敏感的方法，以增加老年人(60岁- 80岁)非裔美国人。我们建议对180名年长的非裔美国人进行随机干预 被分配到一个中等强度的非洲舞蹈组，每周3天(N=90)，或者分配给一个非洲人 教育组(N=90)每周3天，疗程6个月。在完成之前和完成时 干预，我们将收集全面的神经心理学成套数据和大脑健康的MRI指标 和功能，以阐明PA影响神经认知健康的脑血管通路 非洲裔美国人。这项提议有可能利用基于社区的活动来 改善老年非裔美国人的健康。此外，它还可以建立一个平台(即舞蹈)来 实施针对少数群体的未来干预措施，以减少健康差距。我们有三个 主要目标：目标1.检查为期6个月的非洲舞蹈干预是否能改善执行功能 与教育控制组相比。目的2.研究非洲舞是否能增加大脑血液 流向前额叶皮质。目的3.检查前额叶皮质脑血流的变化是否在 非洲舞与执行功能改善之间的关系。

Abstract African Americans are almost two times more likely than whites (i.e., Caucasians) to experience Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. For those over the age of 65, the prevalence of cognitive impairment is 8.8% in whites and 23.9% in African Americans. Even in the age range of 55-64, African Americans are 4 times more likely to experience cognitive impairment than their age-matched white counterparts. One process that is believed to contribute to this disparity is age-related decreases in cerebral blood flow, which is particularly harmful for executive function performance. A critical public health question emerges from these statistics that we intend to address in this proposal: Is there an effective method for reducing or eliminating the race disparities in cognitive and brain health, and does this method work by augmenting cerebral blood flow? Fortunately, physical activity (PA) interventions may be effective at improving neurocognitive function and reducing risk for dementia. Despite these promising results, the mechanism by which PA may improve neurocognitive function remain unknown. Additionally, prior PA interventions have had few African Americans making it difficult to stratify results by race to determine whether African Americans respond to PA in a similar manner and magnitude as whites. The terms ‘physical activity’ and ‘exercise’ are often considered unpleasant, painful, and fatiguing, which can negatively influence interest, enrollment, and long- term adherence. Methods that increase PA without using the term PA (e.g., dancing) could be effective at improving health outcomes while simultaneously having a wider impact on translation and long- term adherence. Here we propose an innovative and culturally sensitive method of increasing PA in older (60- 80 yrs) African Americans. We propose a randomized intervention where 180 older African Americans are assigned to either a moderate intensity African Dance group 3 days per week (N=90) or to an African Education group 3 days per week (N=90) for 6-months. Both before and at the completion of the intervention, we will collect a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and MRI metrics of brain health and function to elucidate cerebrovascular pathways by which PA influences neurocognitive health in an African American population. This proposal has the potential to utilize community-based activities to improve health of older African Americans. In addition, it could establish a platform (i.e., dance) to implement future interventions targeting minority populations to reduce health disparities. We have three primary aims: Aim 1. Examine whether a 6- month African Dance intervention improves executive function compared to an educational control group. Aim 2. Examine whether African Dance increases cerebral blood flow in the prefrontal cortex. Aim 3. Examine whether changes in prefrontal cortex cerebral blood flow mediates the relationship between African Dance and improvements in executive function.