Grant: Summer Program in Aging

This research aims to: (1) determine how frailty and sex impact the brain, heart, vessels, and lungs regulation, and (2) determine how exercise can reverse frailty in older adults. In study #1, participants will perform three postural transitions: (a) sit-to-stand, (b) lie-to-stand, and (c) lie-to-sit, and three identical constant workload walking tests. The autonomic (brain, e.g., sympathetic and parasympathetic activity), cardiovascular (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output), and respiratory (e.g., oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide output, ventilation) will be assessed in females and males with different frailty statuses. In study #2, frail individuals will perform 15 weeks of progressive strength or aerobic training to determine how exercise can reverse frailty and improve autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory function. Homeostatic dysregulation compromises rapid adjustments in the autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory regulatory mechanisms affecting maintenance of homeostasis, especially in vulnerable populations (e.g., older adults). The dysregulation exposes them to higher risks of frailty, chronic diseases, and falls. Frailty is characterized by the degradation of biological and functional reserves to tolerate stressors resulting in high vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. People living with frailty are under-recognized, under-served, under-appreciated, and poorly understood. This research proposal is critical because it will inform the future development of more robust early frailty risk detection assessments, frailty preventative, and rehabilitative treatment/intervention strategies considering sex differences. Advancements in the fundamental knowledge of the underlying mechanisms regulating autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory responses will inform how to promote health, well-being, and quality of life for females and males living with frailty.