Research Projects
Research Projects and Data Resources
Research Projects
Open Measures Network Initiative for AD/ADRD Prevention (OMNI-ADRD)
PI: Martin Sliwinski
Accurate and sensitive measurement of neuropsychological change is essential for advancing dementia prevention, especially during midlife when changes related to Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) begin but symptoms are not yet evident. OMNI-ADRD will provide the research community with open, flexible, and usable tools to enhance the measurement of cognitive change and promote brain health equity.
Visit the OMNI-ADRD website.
Couples and Chronic Low Back Pain (CODL)
PI: Lynn Martire
The purpose of the Couples’ Daily Lives Study is to learn more about the daily experiences of people with back pain and their spouse or partner. Participation involves video interviews every 6 months for 2 years and completion of daily surveys using a tablet computer for one 30-day period.
Einstein Aging Study (EAS)
PI: Orfeu Buxton
The Einstein Aging Study (EAS) is a longitudinal study of cognitive aging. The EAS team has examined both normal aging and challenges associated with aging, particularly Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. EAS is a noteworthy study because it constitutes a large and racially and economically diverse group of older adults. A $32 million grant from the National Institute on Aging will allow an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Penn State and Albert Einstein College of Medicine to continue the Einstein Aging Study for five more years.
Integrative Biobehavioral and Psychosocial Risk for MCI
PIs: Christopher Engeland and Jennifer Graham-Engeland
This project will address considering many factors simultaneously to help identify unique associations and provide a clearer description of how diverse psychological, behavioral, and physiological factors relate to cognitive decline.
Midlife in the United States Refresher (MIDUS)
PI: David Almeida
The Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Refresher is an extension of the decade long longitudinal study of midlife adult health and well-being. MIDUS employs a multidisciplinary team of scholars and researchers to understand the interrelationships among physical, emotional, and cognitive health in a nationally representative sample of adults ranging in age from 20-80. The MIDUS Refresher incorporates a wide range of measures to examine the effects of the current economic climate on individuals from all walks of life. Researchers are investigating peoples’ employment status, their loss of savings and homes, their worries about paying bills, and changes in health insurance. How these experiences are linked to family life, emotional health, and biological risk factors is of central interest. Researchers at Penn State lead the team responsible for daily diary data collection where individuals report on how the current recession affects their daily experiences and routines. This study is funded by the National Institute on Aging. For more information on MIDUS please visit the project website here.
Mobile Monitoring of Cognitive Change (M2C2)
PI: Martin Sliwinski
M2C2 is an open-source, cross-platform, and interdisciplinary project which works to develop innovative ambulatory methods that rely on mobile and sensor technology to measure cognitive and behavioral function in everyday life. These methods aim to provide more cost-effective, accurate, sensitive, and ecologically valid measurements of early signs of cognitive impairment, surpassing the capabilities of standard laboratory and clinical practices.
Visit the M2C2 website.
Visit the M2C2 GitHub.
Multicultural Healthy Diet Study to Reduce Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer’s Risk (MHD)
PI: Martin Sliwinski
Multicultural Healthy Diet Study to Reduce Cognitive Decline & Alzheimer’s Risk is a randomized controlled diet trial designed to test whether an anti-inflammatory dietary pattern compared to usual diet can mitigate cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease risk in a diverse population of 40-65 year old adults in Bronx, New York. It is funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. This study involves 290 participants who complete seven days or burst of ‘brain games’ on smartphones and record their dietary intake for the same time period. Up to four bursts are collected on each person. This study is novel in that the diet intervention is done during a sensitive period- during mid-life -when changes in diet intake might have the most effect in influencing the trajectory of cognitive decline. Diet- and inflammatory-related biomarkers are also collected. Sponsoring Institution: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Data Resources
Cognitive and Physical Exercise Study (CAPES)
PI:
Cognitive and Physical Exercise Study (CAPES) is a project that investigates the impact of cognitive training, exercise training, and the possible effects of a combined physical and cognitive program against a no-contact control group. Older adults will be randomized to these four groups in order to examine if the combined condition elicits similar or greater improvements on everyday functioning than either cognitive or physical interventions alone. Additionally, this project will examine whether the three training conditions represent feasible, intrinsically- motivating training programs for older adults. This study is led by Dr. Ross and is currently funded by the UAB Roybal Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility.
Cognitive Training Gains and Mobility Outcomes in ACTIVE III
PI:
Cognitive Training Gains and Mobility Outcomes in ACTIVE III is a secondary analysis of crash-related mobility outcome measures from the multi-site randomized clinical trial entitled Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE), conducted from 1998-2011. This project aims to determine the associations between elements of the ACTIVE screening battery and crash risk in older adults across ten years, examine the impact of each of the three ACTIVE cognitive interventions and booster training on crash risk, and to determine the associations between elements of the ACTIVE screening battery and self-report mobility measures. This project is led by Dr. Ross and is funded by the UAB Roybal Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility and the UAB Faculty Development Grant Program.
Daily Assessment in Arthritis Study
PI: Lynn Martire
This daily diary study of 152 older adults with knee osteoarthritis and their spouses focuses on spouses’ daily behaviors (e.g., empathic responses, autonomy support, and solicitousness). Our overall goal is to examine the effects of daily positive and negative spousal behaviors on patient functioning (pain, mood, sleep, physical activity) and whether daily illness cognitions (i.e., self-efficacy, catastrophizing) explain these effects. Patients and spouses were assessed three times per day using electronic diaries while also wearing accelerometers to measure daytime physical activity. We are also exploring the impact of gender on dyadic processes.
Effects of Stress on Cognitive Aging, Physiology, and Emotion (ESCAPE)
PI: Martin Sliwinski
R01 AG39409 4/01/11 – 3/31/16 Effects of Stress on Cognition Aging, Physiology, and Emotions (ESCAPE) is an NIA funded study that examines the mechanisms that link stress to cognitive aging. It is a longitudinal measurement-burst design study that aims to examine short-term fluctuations and long-term change in cognitive function within and between individuals across various stress contexts (e.g., daily hassles, major life events, chronic strains). This ongoing study involves 320 adults who will complete 8 biannual ‘bursts’ of 14 days of ecological momentary assessments (EMA). In the EMA component of the study, participants carry specially-programmed smartphones to report on their daily experiences, emotions, and thoughts. They also complete ‘brain games’ on the smartphones which assess their cognitive performance. Participants complete these smartphone surveys in the morning, five times throughout the day, and at bedtime. Prior to each burst, participants complete in-lab assessments of cognition, stress, health status and other risk regulators. Using this approach, this study aims to: improve our understanding on the longitudinal association between stress-related risk-factors and cognitive aging; identify mechanisms (e.g., unconstructive repetitive thought) that link stress to cognitive aging; and determine the temporal ordering between stress, stress mediators, and cognition.
ESCAPE is funded from a grant provided by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a division of the National Institute of Health (NIH). The long-term goal of this grant is to better understand healthy aging as well as the special challenges to maintaining cognitive health that face adults as they transition from mid-life into senior years. A related study focuses on physiological mediators (e.g., HPA-axis and inflammatory) of the relationship between psychosocial stress and cognitive performance.
Inflammatory Mediators of Stress and Cognitive Aging
PI: Lynn Martire
Inflammatory Mediators of Stress and Cognitive Aging, 9/30/2012--8/31/2017 This project extends the longitudinal ESCAPE study (PI: Sliwinski) to examine the degree to which stress-related alterations of both the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and in inflammation (both basal inflammation and inflammatory responses) relate to changes in cognitive function, and how longer-term changes in inflammatory profiles account for cognitive decline. The degree to which tendencies toward heightened rumination or emotion across time may extend stress responses, moderate inflammation, and accelerate long-term changes in cognition will also be determined. Data from this project will improve understanding of the physiological mechanisms by which stress increases risk of cognitive decline, within a broad psychosocial context over time. In the long-run, this project is thus expected to elucidate novel approaches for early detection and intervention. Funding for this project has been provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIA), with additional funding from the Social Science Research Institute at The Pennsylvania State University, and cost-sharing by investigators at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Senior and Adolescent Naturalistic Driving Study (SANDS)
PI:
Senior and Adolescent Naturalistic Driving Study (SANDS) is a project that addresses one of the leading causes of death for individuals across the lifespan: motor vehicle crashes. The overarching goal is to examine unbiased real-world driving in at-risk drivers across the lifespan, namely younger (16-19) and older (65+) adults. Participants will undergo a detailed baseline assessment of demographic, cognitive, sensory, physical functioning and health status. Their vehicles will then be installed with a data recording device that will provide information detailed data regarding the trip including driving behaviors, driving environment, and driving safety across two weeks. Finally, participants will return for a post-test assessment and for removal of the devices. The project is led by Drs. Ross and Stavrinos and is currently funded by the UAB Faculty Development Grant Program, Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development & Education Center (STRIDE), Alabama Department of Transportation, and the UAB Roybal Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility.
The Workplace Practices and Daily Family Well-Being Project
PI: David Almeida
Penn State is part of the Work, Family Health Network (WFHN), which is comprised of eight coordinating organizations conducting research on how best to improve the health of workers and their families and reduce work-family conflict, while also benefiting the organizations. The Workplace Practices and Daily Family Well-Being Project (PI: David Almeida) involves daily diary interviews for eight consecutive days with employees and one of their children aged 9 through 17 before and twelve months after an employer-initiated workplace program designed to increase employee flexibility and control over how and when their work is done and to increase the support of supervisors for employees’ work-family issues. On four of the eight diary days, employee parents and children also collected their saliva throughout the day. The purpose of Penn State’s diary component of the Work, Family, Health Study is to study a subsample of employees and their children in more depth to assess whether the outcomes of the employer-initiated workplace program spill over to improve employees’ daily family processes and health and cross over to daily family processes and health in children. The WFHN is funded by a cooperative agreement from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human, the National Institute on Aging, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The network received additional funding from the Administration for Children and Families. Penn State (PI: Susan McHale) received additional funding from the W. T. Grant Foundation to further investigate the connection between parents’ experiences in the workplace setting and children’s experiences in the family setting.
Visual Integrity and Neural plasticity in the Elderly Study (VINES)
PI: Leslie Ross
Visual Integrity and Neural plasticity in the Elderly Study (VINES) has the goal to investigate the neural mechanisms of processing speed and processing speed training in a sample of older adults using fMRI. Older adults were randomized to one of three arms: the intervention (speed of processing training) group, a social-contact control group, and a no-contact control group. In addition to the behavioral and neuroimaging data, genetic data is also being collected. The correlations of everyday activities, neural changes resulting from processing speed training, and potential influence of genetics will also be investigated. This project is led by Dr. Ross in close collaboration with Dr. Visscher and is funded by the Center for Clinical & Translational Science, Center for Aging, and the Vision Research Science Center. Additionally, the UAB Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility has also provided support and resources for this project.
