Project Grant R21AG086729
- This Project Grant award, provided by the National Institute on Aging under CFDA Program 93.866 - Aging Research, supports a $2,516,316 research initiative led by Harvard Medical School to investigate neuronal activity-responsive DNA repair mechanisms and their contribution to cognitive aging and Alzheimer's disease. The key products and services to be delivered under this 3-year grant include: Mapping the landscape of activity-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in wild-type mice and...
- This $2,366,213 federal Project Grant award from the National Institute on Aging's Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) will fund the INLIFE (Individualized Lifestyle Change for Every Aging Brain) study. The study aims to harmonize and analyze participant-level data from 12 U.S. randomized controlled trials to examine how changes in lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity, cognitive activity, diet, and social engagement impact cognitive outcomes across diverse older adult populations....
- This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) to the Trustees of Boston University, doing business as Boston University Medical Campus, provides $2,330,859.00 in funding to study age-related changes in brain network connectivity and their relationship to cognitive decline. The 3-year project aims to use multimodal neuroimaging, single-cell transcriptomics, electrophysiology, and neural tract-tracing in a rhesus monkey model to delineate how...
- Federal Project Grant Award Summary The National Institute on Aging (NIA) awarded Trustees of Boston University a $343,350 Project Grant effective February 1, 2026, through January 31, 2031, under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866). This award supports research to develop and optimize personalized transcranial alternating current stimulation (TACS) interventions with closed-loop precision modulation to enhance memory performance in aging adults. The research addresses cognitive decline and...
- This Project Grant award of $353,391.00, provided by the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research), aims to validate the use of a "Personal Learning Curve" paradigm as a sensitive marker of early memory decline related to Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers in a large, diverse sample of older adults. The study seeks to determine if this digital cognitive assessment tool, which measures learning over repeated evaluations, can detect subtle AD-related memory failures...
- This Project Grant award, totaling $167,940 and issued by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866), supports research to elucidate the neuronal mechanisms underlying cognitive resilience to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Awarded to Boston Children's Hospital on August 15, 2025, with a completion date of May 31, 2030, the grant funds investigations into why approximately 10-15% of individuals maintain normal cognition despite high levels of AD pathology. The...
- This $200,310 project grant from the Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging will fund research into the differential impact of adverse childhood experiences and aging on brain health. Specifically, the Oklahoma State University grant will pursue two aims: 1) characterize cognitive performance across emerging and older adult cohorts stratified by ACEs, and 2) characterize brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels across the two age...
- This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) provides $2,451,044.00 to investigate the impact of labor force participation and stimulating activities on cognitive aging outcomes across diverse international settings. The lead awardee is The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. The project aims to evaluate cross-country differences in labor force participation, engagement in stimulating activities, and their relationships with...
- Federal Grant Award Summary The National Institute on Aging awarded a $441,612 Project Grant to Boston University Medical Campus effective May 15, 2025, under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to investigate the relationship between modifiable lifestyle risk factors and digital cognitive markers in Alzheimer's disease progression. The research leverages the Framingham Heart Study's multi-generational cohort to develop and validate digital cognitive assessment methods—including digital pen...
- Federal Grant Award Summary The National Institute on Aging (NIA) awarded Boston University Medical Campus a $327,000 project grant under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to identify clinically relevant cognitive subtypes in preclinical Alzheimer's disease using digital phenotyping methods. The research integrates multimodal data from traditional neuropsychological testing and digital voice recordings to develop computational models that characterize heterogeneous cognitive...
AGING, ACTIVITY DIVERSITY, AND BRAIN HEALTH - PROJECT SUMMARY THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL USE BEHAVIORAL, NEUROIMAGING, AND NATURALISTIC APPROACHES TO UNDERSTAND THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING DAILY LIFE ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION IN OLDER ADULTS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO COGNITION AND EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE. THERE IS A STRONG FOUNDATION OF RESEARCH DEMONSTRATING RELIABLE AGE- RELATED DECREASES IN MANY ASPECTS OF COGNITIVE ABILITY THAT ARE COUPLED WITH CHANGES IN THE LOCUS COERULEUS- NOREPINEPHRINE SYSTEM, WITH THE LOCUS COERULEUS IDENTIFIED AS ONE THE EARLIEST SITES OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATHOLOGY. IN PARALLEL, ENGAGEMENT IN A WIDE VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPERIENCES IN DAILY LIFE HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE MAINTENANCE OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION, EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING, AND BRAIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION. ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENTS LINKING COGNITION, LOCUS COERULEUS-NOREPINEPHRINE SYSTEM FUNCTION, AND EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTS ENRICHED WITH VARIETY AND NOVELTY, WITH RESILIENCE TO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATHOLOGY, THERE HAVE BEEN NO STUDIES THAT HAVE RIGOROUSLY TESTED THIS CONSTRUCT IN HUMANS. THE CURRENT PROPOSAL PROVIDES A NOVEL PERSPECTIVE ON THIS ISSUE, BY EMPLOYING A MULTILEVEL, MULTI-MODAL FRAMEWORK TO STUDY THE BEHAVIORAL AND NEUROBIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING AGE-RELATED SHIFTS IN ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION, AND TO DIRECTLY LINK THESE CHANGES WITH IN VIVO MEASUREMENTS OF THE LOCUS COERULEUS-NOREPINEPHRINE SYSTEM AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATHOLOGY. THE PROJECT DIRECTLY TESTS THE HYPOTHESIS THAT VARIED AND DIVERSE ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION IN DAILY LIFE CONTEXTS IS ASSOCIATED WITH COGNITION AND EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE BY USING THE COMBINATION OF ECOLOGICAL MOMENTARY ASSESSMENT (EMA) AND NOVEL PASSIVE SENSING APPROACHES INVOLVING REPEATED SAMPLING OF DAILY LIFE ACTIVITIES, EXPERIENCES, AND LOCATIONS/CONTEXTS ACROSS THE ADULT LIFE SPAN. FURTHER, THESE RICH NATURALISTIC OBSERVATIONS OF DAILY LIFE ACTIVITIES ARE COUPLED WITH ULTRA-HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGING MEASURES OF LOCUS COERULEUS STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY TO TEST FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INTEGRITY OF THE LOCUS COERULEUS-NOREPINEPHRINE SYSTEM AND DAILY LIFE ACTIVITIES AND EXPERIENCES IN OLDER ADULTS. FINALLY, THE PROJECT WILL FEATURE THE FIRST-EVER ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IN VIVO MARKERS OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATHOLOGY AND DAILY LIFE ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION IN OLDER ADULTS, USING STATE-OF-THE-ART TAU PET AND INTENSIVELY SAMPLED DAILY LIFE ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION ASSESSED WITH BOTH EMA AND CUTTING-EDGE PASSIVE SENSING METHODS. A KEY COMPONENT OF THE PROJECT IS ITS EXPLORATION OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES AS A MEANS TO MONITOR OLDER ADULT ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION DURING DAILY LIFE, AND THEIR POTENTIAL UTILITY AS A TOOL TO ENHANCE COGNITIVE AND BRAIN HEALTH. AS SUCH, THE PROPOSED WORK REPRESENTS AN ESSENTIAL FIRST STEP IN DEVELOPING BOTH BEHAVIORAL AND BIOLOGICAL TARGETS FOR MOTIVATIONAL INTERVENTIONS THAT PROMOTE THE MAINTENANCE OF COGNITIVE HEALTH AND RESILIENCE TO PATHOLOGY IN OLDER ADULTHOOD.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $457.4k | 4/29/24 |
GrantNumber | Description | Subgrantee | Prime Award | Dollars Obligated | Updated At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GR404811BCS | Trustees Of Boston College | Project Grant R21AG086729 | $35.7k | 6/26/24 |