04.01.10
The Research Partnership in Cognitive Aging, a public-private effort to promote the study of brain function with age, will award up to $28 million over five years to 17 research grants to examine the neural and behavioral profiles of healthy cognitive aging and explore interventions that may prevent, reduce or reverse cognitive decline in older people. The partnership, led by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation (MBRF), is seeking ways to maintain cognitive health—the ability to think, learn and remember—into old age. The basic research supported by these grants will focus on the molecular, cellular, physiological and behavioral aspects of healthy aging, as well as the development and pilot testing of experimental, evidence-based interventions. The pilot studies of behavioral strategies may eventually lead to full-scale, randomized clinical trials.
A sampling of the research supported by the partnership includes one study designed to focus on differences in how the brain encodes, consolidates, stores and retrieves memory in young and old mice. Researchers will monitor and analyze patterns of activity in the hippocampus—a part of the brain important to learning and memory—to determine age-related changes in function. These findings may lead to new therapies targeting specific components of memory loss. This project is supported by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.
Another randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will examine whether dietary supplements of omega 3 fatty acids and blueberries can slow or prevent age-related cognitive decline in older adults. The study will assess changes in memory and daily functioning over one year to determine the impact of these non-pharmaceutical interventions. This study is also supported by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS).
A pilot trial involving 90 older adults will evaluate whether cognition improves when aerobic exercise is combined with cognitive enrichment provided by a specific research-based video game. The randomized trial is aimed at finding an intervention to improve day-to-day cognitive function. (More details on this partnership and other developments in the brain health market will be provided in the May issue as part of our focus on Cognitive Function.)
A sampling of the research supported by the partnership includes one study designed to focus on differences in how the brain encodes, consolidates, stores and retrieves memory in young and old mice. Researchers will monitor and analyze patterns of activity in the hippocampus—a part of the brain important to learning and memory—to determine age-related changes in function. These findings may lead to new therapies targeting specific components of memory loss. This project is supported by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.
Another randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will examine whether dietary supplements of omega 3 fatty acids and blueberries can slow or prevent age-related cognitive decline in older adults. The study will assess changes in memory and daily functioning over one year to determine the impact of these non-pharmaceutical interventions. This study is also supported by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS).
A pilot trial involving 90 older adults will evaluate whether cognition improves when aerobic exercise is combined with cognitive enrichment provided by a specific research-based video game. The randomized trial is aimed at finding an intervention to improve day-to-day cognitive function. (More details on this partnership and other developments in the brain health market will be provided in the May issue as part of our focus on Cognitive Function.)