Patterns and Predictors of Normal Cognitive Aging

描述(由申请人提供)：正常认知老化的模式和预测因素：老年指导研究科学家发展奖(K01)。候选人Hiroko H.Dodge博士在人口学和统计学方面有很强的背景，在痴呆症流行病学方面有丰富的工作经验。她现在建议在健康认知老化的研究方面走向独立的研究生涯。总的来说，K01的研究目标是研究健康老龄化人口样本随时间的认知功能，并改进在这一领域使用的方法。K01的学习目标是获得(1)神经心理学、神经科学、老年病学、老年学和流行病学的概念性知识，(2)通过研究经验在这些领域进行实践学习，以及(3)在特定统计领域的进一步专业知识，特别是在处理缺失数据偏差方面。 要完善临床护理和公共卫生规划，关键是要区分正常和 病理性认知老化，并确定正常衰老的模式和预测因素。许多纵向研究已经在不具代表性的临床或志愿者人群中进行。由于在后续研究中不可避免地会丢失数据，其他研究也遭受了“缺失数据偏差”。关于与年龄相关的标准认知轨迹的数据相对缺乏，包括“人口规范”(整个社区的范围、平均值和百分位数)和“健康规范”(疾病患者和非残疾个人的认知能力分布)。 研究计划包括对两个现有纵向数据集的分析，即电影项目(在宾夕法尼亚社区进行了15年的流行病学研究)、AHEAD/HRS研究(正在进行的具有全国代表性的美国样本的纵向研究)，以及日本志贺正在进行的队列研究中的一个新的试点项目。候选人将首先描述与年龄相关的纵向标准化认知轨迹，应用最近开发的方法来处理丢失的数据偏差。接下来，她将研究这些规范与保留的执行日常生活工具活动的能力之间的联系。这两种方法将为“健康的认知老化”定义一个门槛。最后，利用上述知识和数据，她将开发一个新的协作R01应用程序，以进行日美健康认知老化的跨国研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Patterns and predictors of normal cognitive aging : Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) in Aging. The candidate, Hiroko H. Dodge, PhD., has a strong background in demography and statistics, and substantial work experience in the epidemiology of dementia. She now proposes to move towards an independent research career in the study of healthy cognitive aging. Broadly, the K01 research goal is to study cognitive functioning over time in healthy aging population samples, and to refine the methodology used in this area. The K01 learning objectives are to gain (1) conceptual knowledge in neuropsychology, neuroscience, geriatrics, gerontology, and epidemiology, (2) practical learning in these areas through research experience; and (3) further expertise in specific statistical areas, especially in the handling of missing data bias. To refine clinical care and public health planning, it is critical to distinguish between normal and pathological cognitive aging, and to identify the patterns and predictors of normal aging. Many longitudinal studies have been conducted in non-representative clinical or volunteer populations. Other studies have suffered "missing data bias" due to the inevitable loss of data during follow up studies. There is a relative lack of data on normative age-associated cognitive trajectories, including "population norms" (ranges, averages, and percentiles in the community at large), and "healthy norms" (distribution of cognitive ability in diseasefree and disability-free individuals.) The Research Plan includes analyses of two existing longitudinal datasets, the MOVIES project (a 15- year epidemiological study in a Pennsylvanian community), the AHEAD/HRS study (an ongoing longitudinal study of a nationally representative U.S. sample), and a new pilot project within an ongoing cohort study in Shiga, Japan. The candidate will first describe longitudinal age-associated normative cognitive trajectories, applying recently developed methods in handling missing data bias. Next, she will examine the association between these norms and preserved ability to perform Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. These two approaches will allow a threshold to be defined for "healthy cognitive aging". Finally, using the above knowledge and data, she will develop a new collaborative R01 application to conduct a Japan-US cross national study of healthy cognitive aging.