Differences in how the brain encodes, consolidates, stores and retrieves memory in young and old mice is the focus of one study. The researchers will monitor and analyze patterns of activity in the hippocampus, a part of the brain important to learning and memory, to determine age-related changes in function. These findings may lead to new therapies targeting specific components of memory loss. This project is supported by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will examine whether dietary supplements of omega-3 fatty acids and blueberries can slow or prevent age-related cognitive decline in older adults. The study will assess changes in memory and daily functioning over one year to determine the impact of these non-pharmaceutical interventions. This study is also supported by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. A pilot trial in 90 older adults will evaluate whether cognition improves when aerobic exercise is combined with cognitive enrichment provided by a specific research-based video game. The randomized trial is aimed at finding an intervention to improve day-to-day cognitive function.
These grant awards stem from research objectives set at the Cognitive Aging Summit, an October 2007 conference on cutting-edge research on age-related brain and cognitive changes. That meeting, convened by the NIA under a grant from the MBRF to the FNIH, brought together 250 scientists from diverse disciplines to discuss critical questions in age-related brain and cognitive research and explore future avenues of research. In 2008, NIA invited scientists to submit research proposals in two areas -- interventions to remediate age-related cognitive decline and neural and behavioral profiles of cognitive aging.
"The summit created tremendous excitement among researchers about building a more collaborative approach toward profiling brain health and cognitive function across the lifespan and developing healthy cognitive aging interventions," said J. Lee Dockery, M.D., MBRF board trustee. "Toward that end, these studies are designed so that investigators can readily compare measures and outcomes."
A second Cognitive Aging Summit is planned for the fall of 2010. It will build on the success of the earlier meeting by bringing together experts in a variety of research fields to discuss advances in understanding brain and behavioral changes associated with normal aging, including clinical translational research for prevention of age-related cognitive decline.
SOURCE National Institutes of Health