The Effects of Moderate Alcohol Use In Age Related Cognitive Decline

描述(由申请人提供)：这项研究将衡量适度饮酒对老年人(E65岁，D80岁)与年龄相关的认知下降的影响。饮酒会对日常生活的几个方面产生负面影响，包括决策能力、短期和长期记忆能力以及注意力。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。老年人的饮酒量正在上升。这在一定程度上是由于上个世纪对社交饮酒越来越宽容的态度。这项研究将测量适度饮酒对老年人重要认知能力的影响。通过将网络理论原理应用于休息期间收集的功能磁共振成像大脑数据和工作记忆任务表现，将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联系的系统中的功能信息。这项研究将探索驾驶假说，即中度老年饮酒者比低老年饮酒者表现出更大的与年龄相关的认知缺陷。我们预测，认知缺陷将与大脑功能连接的可测量变化重新相关。了解老年人社交饮酒如何影响与年龄相关的认知下降，将有助于识别哪些成年人因饮酒而面临加速损伤的风险。我的首要培训目标是成为一名研究人类饮酒并最终导致滥用的有效而创新的研究人员。作为这项提议的一部分，所接受的培训将有助于发展实现我的目标所必需的技能和智力框架。

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.