The impact of the Environment and Pollution On Cognitive Health (EPOCH): Building the knowledge base through international collaboration

痴呆症是一种与认知功能下降和功能丧失相关的综合征，已被认为是全球老龄化社会的一个关键问题。为了制定减少认知能力下降和痴呆风险的战略，大量研究已经确定了几种维持认知功能和健康状况的生活方式因素（例如，身体活动和社会交往），以及一些对认知功能有有害影响的慢性疾病（例如，高血压和糖尿病）。由于建筑环境——人造基础设施和设施，如街道网络和公共交通——可在影响健康行为和预防肥胖和非传染性疾病方面发挥关键作用，因此必须调查建筑环境对老年人认知健康的潜在影响，并进一步考虑其他相关环境特征。例如自然环境（非人类制造的环境，如绿色和蓝色空间）和污染（空气污染物和噪音）。最近的研究表明，充满活力、高密度、目的地丰富的社区环境可以为老年居民提供参与有益于认知健康的身体、社会和心理活动的机会。然而，这样的环境也与有害水平的交通污染和噪音有关，这些污染和噪音被发现对认知能力下降和痴呆有负面影响。了解社区环境中这些复杂和相互作用的因素及其对认知健康的共同影响，并确定减少认知衰退加速和预防认知障碍和痴呆发展的关键环境因素至关重要。这一证据将为多层次、多部门的预防战略提供信息，通过改善城市规划和设计、交通系统、环境保护实践和公共卫生干预措施，应对与人口老龄化和痴呆症负担有关的挑战。为了解决这些知识差距，这个项目的目的是调查建筑环境、自然环境和污染之间的复杂关系，以及它们对以后生活中认知健康的潜在影响。利用来自健康和社会科学的跨学科数据资源，该项目将创建整合英国和澳大利亚环境和个人健康数据的创新数据集。还将开发新的分析方法来研究(1)社区中不同的环境因素如何影响老年人的认知能力下降和痴呆；(2)生活方式行为（身体、社会和心理活动的参与水平）如何解释邻里环境对认知健康的影响；(3)邻里环境对痴呆的影响是否与性别、社会经济地位和遗传易感性有关。类似的研究方法和分析方法将在英国和澳大利亚的不同人群中进行，为跨国比较提供可比的结果。这项国际合作将最大限度地发挥在环境、认知和老龄化研究领域培养下一代研究人员的潜力，并为未来的研究和创新创造一个跨学科的网络。该项目的产出将有助于知识和方法的发展，这些知识和方法将推动环境、认知和老龄化方面的研究，并加强以证据为基础的战略，以减少认知功能加速衰退的风险，防止向认知障碍和痴呆症的发展。

Dementia, a syndrome related to a decline in cognitive function and loss of functional ability, has been recognised to be a critical issue in ageing societies across the globe. To develop strategies for reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, a large body of research has identified several lifestyle factors that maintain cognitive function and health status (e.g., physical activity and social interaction), and some chronic conditions with detrimental effects on cognitive function (e.g., hypertension and diabetes). Since the built environment - human-made infrastructures and facilities, such as street network and public transport - can play a key role in influencing health behaviours and prevention of obesity and non-communicable diseases, it is important to investigate the potential impact of the built environment on cognitive health in older people and further consider other related environmental characteristics, such as the natural environment (non-human made surroundings such as green and blue spaces) and pollution (air pollutants and noise). Recent studies have suggested that vibrant, high-density, destination-rich neighbourhood environments can provide opportunities for older residents to engage in physical, social and mental activities that benefit cognitive health. However, such environments are also associated with harmful levels of traffic-related pollution and noise, which are found to have a negative influence on cognitive decline and dementia. It is essential to understand these complex and interacting factors in neighbourhood environments and their joint impact on cognitive health and identify key environmental factors that reduce the acceleration of cognitive decline and prevent the development of cognitive impairment and dementia. This evidence will inform multi-level, multi-sectoral prevention strategies to address challenges related to population ageing and burden of dementia through the improvement of urban planning and design, the transportation system, environmental protection practices and public health interventions.To address these knowledge gaps, the aim of this project is to investigate the complex relationships between the built environment, natural environment and pollution and their potential impact on cognitive health in later life. Utilising interdisciplinary data resources from the health and social sciences, the project will create innovative datasets integrating environmental and individual health data in the UK and Australia. Novel analytical methods will also be developed to investigate (1) how different environmental factors in neighbourhoods can influence cognitive decline and dementia in older people; (2) how lifestyle behaviours (levels of engagement in physical, social and mental activities) can explain the impact of neighbourhood environments on cognitive health; (3) whether the effects of neighbourhood environments depend on sex, socioeconomic status and genetic predisposition to dementia. Similar research methods and analytical approaches will be carried out in different populations across the UK and Australia to provide comparable results for cross-country comparison. The international collaboration will maximise the potential for developing the next generation of researchers in the environment, cognition and ageing research fields and create a cross-disciplinary network for future research and innovations. The outputs of this project will contribute to knowledge and methodologies that will advance research on environment, cognition and ageing and enhance evidence-based strategies to reduce the risk of accelerated decline in cognitive function and prevent the progression toward cognitive impairment and dementia.