How lifelong social and economic disadvantage may speed biological aging and harm thinking in midlife
Accelerated Epigenetic Aging as a Mechanism in Lifespan Socioeconomic Effects on Midlife Cognitive Decline
This project looks at whether long-term personal and neighborhood social and economic disadvantage speeds up biological aging and leads to thinking and memory problems in middle-aged adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11305237 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This research follows people over time to connect childhood and adult individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic conditions with thinking and memory in midlife. The team will test four timing models (sensitive period, cumulative exposure, pathway through adult disadvantage, and social mobility) to find when disadvantage matters most. They will measure biological age using DNA methylation (epigenetic clocks) to see if faster biological aging explains links between disadvantage and cognitive decline. The work uses existing longitudinal data and biological samples to track changes in cognition and epigenetic age across years.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are adults in midlife or people aged 21 and older with varied childhood and adult socioeconomic backgrounds who can provide health information and blood or saliva samples.
Not a fit: People with advanced dementia or those unwilling to share medical history or provide biological samples are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could identify when and how social disadvantage causes faster biological aging and point to times or markers for prevention and early monitoring to protect thinking skills.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have linked faster epigenetic aging to cognitive decline, but using epigenetic aging to explain how life-course socioeconomic disadvantage affects midlife cognition is a new application.
Where this research is happening
Pittsburgh, United States
- University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Reed, Rebecca G — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Reed, Rebecca G
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.