How family and work life across adulthood may change dementia risk
Changing lives, changing brains: How modern family and work life influences ADRD risks
This research looks at whether people's family and work experiences over their adult life relate to their chances of developing Alzheimer's and related dementias later on.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11090326 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project uses decades of health and registry data from Norway's large HUNT study to link family patterns (for example marriage and childbearing) and types of work to later-life thinking and memory changes. Researchers follow population-representative cohorts born between 1900 and 1960 and combine questionnaires, clinical measurements, and national records to track cognitive outcomes over many years. By studying whole life-course patterns, the team hopes to see which combinations of family and work experiences are tied to higher or lower dementia risk. The approach looks at real-world lives rather than testing a single medical treatment.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates for this kind of research are adults or older people with detailed work and family histories or those already enrolled in long-term population health registries who want to contribute data to dementia prevention research.
Not a fit: People seeking an immediate new treatment for dementia or those without long-term records of their work and family history are unlikely to receive direct personal benefit from this observational work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could point to family- and work-related life changes that help reduce dementia risk at the population level.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies have linked social and occupational factors to dementia risk, but using long-running national cohort and registry data to study modern shifts in family and work across a lifetime is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Columbia University Health Sciences — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Stern, Yaakov — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Stern, Yaakov
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 below.