North Florida Foundation For Research And Education Inc

RESTORATION OF LIFE ROLE PARTICIPATION THROUGH INTEGRATED COGNITIVE AND MOTOR TRAINING INDIVIDUALS WITH TBI

CONTRIBUTION OF ALLOSTATIC LOAD AND INTEROCEPTION TO BRAIN AGING AND RISK FOR AD/ADRD - THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS K23 PROPOSAL IS TO FOSTER MY DEVELOPMENT AS AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR TOWARD A CLINICAL SCIENCE CAREER IN BRAIN AGING RESEARCH. SPECIFICALLY, MY RESEARCH INTERESTS ARE IN PREDICTING COGNITIVE TRAJECTORIES IN OLDER ADULTS BY EXAMINING NEURAL COMPENSATORY MECHANISMS (E.G., NEUROPLASTICITY, IMMUNE- STRESS RESPONSES), AND IN DEVELOPING INTERVENTIONS WHICH ADDRESS THESE MECHANISMS, USING THEM TO REDUCE RISK FOR ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD) AND AD-RELATED DEMENTIAS (ADRD). AS A NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST, I HAVE GAINED CLINICAL EXPERIENCE IN THE ASSESSMENT OF NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, AS WELL AS RESEARCH EXPERIENCE WITH USING MULTIMODAL NEUROIMAGING TO EXAMINE COGNITIVE AND NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS IN BRAIN AGING. TO ENSURE AN INDEPENDENT CAREER IN TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, THE PROPOSED TRAINING PLAN WILL ADDRESS (1) THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXPERTISE IN CLINICAL RESEARCH WITH COMPLEX, MULTI-MODALITY DATA, TRAINING IN TIMESERIES ANALYSES AND FLUID BIOMARKERS, AND (2) MENTORSHIP TO TRANSITION TO A TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH CAREER WITH INDEPENDENCE IN ALL ASPECTS OF RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED STUDY IS TO CHARACTERIZE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITION AND MULTIPLE LEVELS OF THE AUTONOMIC REGULATORY SYSTEM, INCLUDING THE NEURAL FUNCTIONING OF PREDICTIVE CODING NETWORKS, AUTONOMIC FLEXIBILITY IN RESPONSE TO COGNITIVE LOAD, AND MULTI-SYSTEM STRESS BURDEN BIOMARKERS. PRELIMINARY DATA FROM MY POST-DOCTORAL WORK IN OLDER ADULTS RECOVERING FROM MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, SHOW STRONG ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN MEMORY, AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS, AND PREDICTIVE CODING NETWORKS. THIS STUDY WILL EXPAND ON MY PRIOR WORK BY EXAMINING THESE RELATIONSHIPS IN OLDER ADULTS AT VARYING RISK FOR AD/ADRD, GAINING UNDERSTANDING OF AUTONOMIC BURDEN IMPACT THROUGH USE OF BLOOD-BASED BIOMARKERS, AND ADVANCED STATISTICAL METHODS TO CHARACTERIZE ANS FLEXIBILITY IN RESPONSE TO COGNITIVE LOAD. OVER THE COURSE OF THE AWARD PERIOD, WE WILL ENROLL APPROXIMATELY 75 OLDER ADULTS (AGES 65-90), WITH A STRATIFIED RECRUITMENT STRATEGY ACROSS COGNITIVE PHENOTYPES FROM NORMAL AGING TO MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (AMNESTIC AND NON-AMNESTIC). MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING WILL BE ACQUIRED FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS AND INCLUDE STRUCTURAL, METABOLIC, AND FUNCTIONAL IMAGING (RESTING STATE AND INTEROCEPTIVE FMRI TASK DEVELOPED BY THE APPLICANT). LAB-BASED OBJECTIVE MEASUREMENT OF AUTONOMIC FLEXIBILITY WILL BE COLLECTED AT REST, DURING COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT. NEUROBEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT INCLUDES COMPREHENSIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING, AS WELL AS MULTI-SYSTEM STRESS BURDEN BIOMARKERS AND AD/ADRD. SPECIFIC AIM 1 WILL DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITION, AUTONOMIC FLEXIBILITY, AND DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THE AUTONOMIC REGULATORY SYSTEM. SPECIFIC AIM 2 WILL MEASURE THE MODERATING IMPACT OF COGNITIVE PHENOTYPE ON THESE RELATIONSHIPS, TO GENERATE EFFECT SIZES FOR FUTURE PROPOSALS. DATA GENERATED FROM THIS STUDY WILL HAVE DIRECT RELEVANCE TO PROGNOSTIC MODELS OF BRAIN AGING AND INTERVENTIONS AIMED AT REDUCING RISK FOR AD/ADRD, LAUNCHING AN INDEPENDENT LINE OF RESEARCH.

DESIGN OF EFFECTIVE THERAPUTIC INTERVENTIONS FOR MILD TBI/PTSD USING INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL WORLD ENVIRONMENTS