How prescription opioids affect thinking and brain health in older adults
Official title: Prescription opioids, brain structure, and cognition in older adults with chronic pain
Funded at Mayo Clinic Rochester · NIH-11250027 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project follows adults 65 and older with chronic pain to compare brain scans and thinking skills between people who take prescription opioids and those who do not.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Mayo Clinic Rochester NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Rochester, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2025 |
| Project end | December 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $770,630 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG090601-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11250027 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults aged 65 or older with chronic pain, including people currently prescribed opioids and those using non-opioid treatments, are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People under 65, those without chronic pain, or individuals with advanced dementia are unlikely to benefit or be eligible for this project.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will enroll older adults (65+) with chronic pain and collect medical history, medication records, and tests of thinking and memory over time. They will use brain MRI scans to look at white matter and other structures linked to thinking and compare people who use prescription opioids with similar people who do not. The team will apply statistical methods to try to separate the effects of opioids from the effects of the pain itself and explore biological markers that could explain changes in the brain. Study visits will likely include interviews, cognitive testing, and imaging at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could clarify whether opioids raise the risk of faster thinking decline and help guide safer pain treatment choices for older adults.
How similar studies have gone: Previous observational studies, including work from this team, have linked opioid use to faster cognitive decline and white-matter changes but could not prove causation, so this project builds on prior findings.
Where this research is happening
-
Mayo Clinic Rochester
Rochester, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Warner, Nafisseh S — Mayo Clinic Rochester
- Study coordinator: Warner, Nafisseh S
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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.