Growing up bilingual and dementia risk later in life
Official title: Family of Origin Bilingualism and ADRD: An Epidemiologic Study of 377,000 Older Adults in the US
Funded at State University of New York at Buffalo · NIH-11416472 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether people raised in bilingual households are more or less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and related dementias many decades later.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | State University of New York at Buffalo NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Amherst, United States) |
| Project start | August 15, 2023 |
| Project end | April 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $412,365 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG082890-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11416472 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are older U.S. adults who grew up in bilingual households or people who participated in Project Talent, though the project analyzes existing records rather than enrolling new volunteers.
✕Less likely to help
People who were not part of Project Talent, who lack U.S. Medicare linkage, or who are much younger than the cohort are unlikely to directly participate or benefit from this specific project.
What this research studies
If you were in the Project Talent cohort (high school students in 1960), researchers will use information about languages spoken at home, early cognitive tests, and family background to link to later-life health records. They will connect those records to the 1950 census and to Medicare and National Death Index data to identify dementia diagnoses when participants are in their late 70s. The team will use this large sample of about 377,000 Americans to compare people raised bilingual to those who were not while accounting for socioeconomic status and immigration history. The work analyzes existing records, so it does not require new clinic visits or tests from current participants.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could clarify whether childhood bilingualism influences dementia risk and help guide prevention, screening, or public health messaging.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies on bilingualism and dementia have produced mixed results, so this large, long-term cohort analysis is intended to provide clearer evidence.
Where this research is happening
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State University of New York at Buffalo
Amherst, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Millen, Amy Elizabeth — State University of New York at Buffalo
- Study coordinator: Millen, Amy Elizabeth
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.