Project Grant R03AG104158

The National Institute on Aging awarded the University of Memphis $146,000 on September 4, 2026, under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to investigate longitudinal patterns of multiple behavioral risk factors and their joint effects on cognitive aging.

The recipient will analyze 24 years of data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of U.S. adults age 51 and older, linked with neighborhood contextual data, to examine how physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, body mass index, and social isolation coevolve and influence cognitive aging. The study addresses gaps in current evidence by applying a life-course perspective to multiple behaviors simultaneously rather than examining single timepoint measures in isolation. Aim 1 models longitudinal trajectories of individual behaviors and their demographic and neighborhood determinants. Aim 2 identifies joint multibehavioral trajectories to capture both protective and high-risk clusters. Aim 3 evaluates cumulative and bidirectional associations between behavioral trajectories and cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia incidence across the 1998–2022 period. The project responds to dementia's growing public health burden, with roughly one-third of cases attributable to modifiable lifestyle behaviors.

Performance occurs in Memphis, Tennessee, with a period of performance through August 31, 2028. This is a Project Grant, an exploratory or developmental award mechanism under NIA's aging research portfolio.