Grant: Operating Grant: BHCIA: Knowledge Synthesis and Mobilization Grants - HEP

We all want to maintain our brain health and live an active and cognitively engaged life as we age. However, currently there exist health inequities, i.e., increased prevalence of cognitive impairment and dementia, based on sex, gender, race, and ethnicity. For example, two-thirds of older adults diagnosed with AD are females. Yet, we know little about why this sex difference in AD prevalence exists and whether it is due to female biological sex, the gendered life experiences of women and/or the interaction of sex and gender. In addition, in North America, disparities in some social and structural determinants of health (SSDH, e.g., education, poverty, poor diet) are linked to poorer aging trajectories and increased dementia risk in some communities that have been historically excluded from research. As a result, there is limited knowledge on the effect of SSDH on brain and cognitive aging in these communities. The goal of this Grant is to promote health equity in cognitive and brain aging research by: i) synthesizing, ii) applying, iii) refining and communicating with our knowledge users, the best practices in engaging historically excluded participants in research; measuring sex, gender, and SSDH; and integrating these measures in the study of individual differences in brain resilience - defined as neurocognitive mechanisms (e.g. brain reserve, brain maintenance, cognitive reserve) that support one's ability to maintain effective levels of cognition and brain function with aging. Methods developed will then be rigorously tested using available large databases to help optimize measurement, application, and interpretations. The activities and products resulting from the proposed plan will educate the academic and clinical community, as well as key stakeholders and knowledge users on cutting edge research; and provide innovative methods and findings that can be used to promote health equity in cognitive and brain aging for all Canadians.