Understanding how social life affects memory as we age in different communities
Official title: Social Mechanisms of Cognitive Aging Disparities in Rural and Urban Older Populations
Funded at Oklahoma State University Stillwater · NIH-11093412 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project wants to learn how social connections and daily activities influence memory changes in older adults living in both rural and city areas.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Oklahoma State University Stillwater NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Stillwater, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2022 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $592,437 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG078247-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11093412 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants would be older adults living in either rural or urban areas who are interested in sharing information about their social lives and cognitive experiences.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are not older adults or who are not experiencing cognitive aging concerns may not directly benefit from this specific research.
What this research studies
We are looking at how your social life, including your friends, daily interactions, and where you spend your time, might affect your memory as you get older. We will gather information through surveys and daily check-ins to understand these connections better. The goal is to find out why memory issues related to Alzheimer's and similar conditions might be more common in rural areas compared to cities. By understanding these social factors, we hope to discover new ways to support brain health and reduce these differences.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help us develop better ways to support brain health and reduce memory decline for older adults, especially those in rural communities.
How similar studies have gone: While previous work has hinted at the importance of social environments, this project uses a new multi-method approach to explore these connections in more detail.
Where this research is happening
-
Oklahoma State University Stillwater
Stillwater, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Roth, Adam Ronald — Oklahoma State University Stillwater
- Study coordinator: Roth, Adam Ronald
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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.