Grant: Project Grant

Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) are a concern worldwide and have major personal and socio-economic impacts. Lifestyle factors, like higher levels of physical activity, are promising approaches for maintaining brain health at older ages. Physical inactivity and poor sleep are now considered to be among the most important modifiable risk factors for age-related cognitive decline and ADRD. In several studies, poor sleep has been shown to be associated with greater accumulation of amyloid ß and tau while higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower levels of these proteins. Higher levels of physical activity are associated with better sleep quality. To date no interventional trials or longitudinal cohort studies have examined the associations among physical activity, sleep, and cognition in older males and females who are healthy or at increased risk of ADRD. Our team is well positioned to address these knowledge gaps. Our overall research goal is to better understand the relationship between sleep and ADRD, and to investigate aerobic exercise as an intervention to improve sleep and AD blood biomarkers. This research will help us understand the relationship between sleep quality, AD blood biomarkers and cognition in cohorts of older adults who are cognitively unimpaired or at increased risk of ADRD. Further, it will advance our understanding of the role of physical activity on sleep. These findings will also advance knowledge on the role of sleep and cardiovascular health as modifiable risk factors and as early identification of biomarkers in the development of ADRD which has implications for future interventional strategies.