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Symposium

Behavioral and Social Sciences

Leveraging Neighborhood Exposures as Modifiers of Individual Risk Factors for Cognitive Decline and Dementias

Friday, November 10, 2023
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
Location: Room 309

There are numerous ways in which neighborhood environmental factors have been shown to contribute to adverse health. More remains to be done to link long-term neighborhood exposures, such as social and physical activities, to modifiable individual risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia. Individual interventions are usually small in scale and conducted in those with higher socioeconomic status (SES). Additionally, increases in healthy behaviors, such as walking, have been difficult to promote and sustain. Each of these risk factors is known to be influenced by environmental features. This symposium will explore the roles of neighborhood-level social (nSES, affluence, cohesion, discrimination) and physical (air pollution) factors as drivers of cognitive aging and dementia across multiple longitudinal studies of community-based aging. Studies span urban and rural communities, including the Health ABC Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study, and the Think Phresh study. These studies are important to evaluating the role of neighborhood features on cognitive aging by expanding beyond cross-sectional data and by studying residentially stable older adults most likely to be affected by their local context. Those neighborhood factors that impact individual activity, cognitive aging, and Alzheimer’s disease risk will be further discussed for differences by race/ethnicity.

Learning Objectives:

  • define physical and numerous social neighborhood-level factors related to adverse health outcomes
  • evaluate how neighborhood-level factors may account for individual behaviors related to dementia risk
  • describe how neighborhood-level exposures may partially account for racial and ethnic group differences in cognitive aging and risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).

Presentations:

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Neighborhood Affluence and Risk of Incident Dementia: Role of Physical Activity Destinations

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Kyle D. Moored, PhD (he/him/his) – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Changes in Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Findings From Health ABC Study

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Greta Jianjia Cheng, MSW, MPH (she/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Toxic Chemical Emissions and Dementia Risk: Results From the Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Breanna Crane, BS (she/her/hers) – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Unfair Treatment, Social Cohesion, and Cognition in Black Adults Living in Urban Neighborhoods

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Erica K. Fan, MPH (she/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh, School of Public Health