Midlife stress-related blood pressure and early brain blood vessel changes
Official title: Midlife cardiovascular stress physiology and preclinical cerebrovascular disease
Funded at University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh · NIH-11141631 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether people in their 40s–50s who have larger blood pressure spikes during stress show early signs of damage to brain blood vessels.
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 start | July 1, 2023 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $744,861 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL169990-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11141631 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are community-dwelling adults aged about 40–59, including those with high stress reactivity or midlife cardiovascular risk factors, who can attend visits in Pittsburgh.
✕Less likely to help
People under 40, over about 60, or those with established dementia are unlikely to be direct beneficiaries of this project.
What this research studies
You would join a community group of about 538 adults aged 40–59 (about 60% women and 40% nonwhite). Researchers measure how your blood pressure and heart responses change during short psychological stress tasks and test blood vessel health including arterial stiffness and endothelial function. They also record beat-to-beat hemodynamics and obtain brain imaging markers related to cerebral pulsatility and other signs of preclinical cerebrovascular disease. The team aims to connect midlife stress-related cardiovascular responses with early brain vessel changes that can increase dementia risk.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help spot midlife cardiovascular signs that flag higher risk for later brain vessel disease and dementia, enabling earlier prevention efforts.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have linked stress-evoked blood pressure to later hypertension and heart disease, but applying these measures to predict preclinical cerebrovascular changes and brain pulsatility is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gianaros, Peter J — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Gianaros, Peter J
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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.