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Cognitive SuperAging: A model to explore resilience and resistance to aging and Alzheimers disease

Award Number: R01AG067781
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2026

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Cognitive SuperAging: A model to explore resilience and resistance to aging and Alzheimers disease - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: Memory complaints are widespread among the elderly and aging is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), leading to the impression that a gradual loss of memory ability, eventually culminating in dementia, may be a nearly universal consequence of getting old. Our studies explore an alternative aging trajectory by studying 80+ year olds, who have episodic memory performance that appears to have escaped age-related decline and that remains in the range that is at least normal for 50-60 year-olds and we have labelled `SuperAgers'. We enrolled a dedicated and unique cohort of SuperAgers and Controls committed to longitudinal assessment and brain donation at death. Our initial studies identified domain-specific biologic, psychosocial, and genetic features of the SuperAgers, including maintenance of cortical integrity (especially in the anterior cingulate), an abundance of anterior cingulate Von Economo neurons and sparse cortical Alzheimer pathology compared to their cognitively average peers. These features may contribute in part to maintenance of superior memory performance past the 8th decade of life. This Project plans to extend the characterization of the SuperAging phenotype through hypothesis-driven novel evaluations of functional brain network connectivity, regional distribution of gene expression, and integrity of dendritic, synaptic and axonal markers. The proposed project will allow us to expand our unique group of SuperAgers and cognitively average peers and address important questions related to the neurobiology of resilience and cognitive reserve. By identifying neurobiologic features that contribute to superior memory performance in old age, outcomes from this project will help isolate factors that promote successful cognitive aging and perhaps also prevent age- related brain diseases such as AD. The project's reliance on a cohort that has already been partially recruited, its longitudinal design, multidisciplinary structure, and collaboration-friendly organization increases the likelihood that consequential progress will be achieved.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2026	2025	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	5801 S ELLIS AVE	CHICAGO	IL	60637	COOK	USA	Aging Research	000	6	11/13/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $673,808 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	5801 S ELLIS AVE	CHICAGO	IL	60637	COOK	USA	Aging Research	000	6	11/29/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$618,803
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	5801 S ELLIS AVE	CHICAGO	IL	60637	COOK	USA	Aging Research	001	6	8/13/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$55,005
														Subtotal = $673,808

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = -$3,930 )
2024	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	5801 S ELLIS AVE	CHICAGO	IL	60637	COOK	USA	Aging Research	003	5	4/3/2024	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$27,058
2024	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	5801 S ELLIS AVE	CHICAGO	IL	60637	COOK	USA	Aging Research	001	5	12/18/2023	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$747,866
2024	2023	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Aging Research	000	4	12/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$751,796
2024	2022	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Aging Research	002	3	4/3/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$27,058
														Subtotal = -$3,930

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $751,796 )
2023	2023	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Aging Research	000	4	3/7/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$751,796
														Subtotal = $751,796

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $751,796 )
2022	2022	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Aging Research	000	3	2/15/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$676,614
2022	2022	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Aging Research	001	3	5/10/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$75,182
														Subtotal = $751,796

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $748,297 )
2021	2021	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Aging Research	000	2	2/25/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$748,297
														Subtotal = $748,297

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $759,391 )
2020	2020	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	633 CLARK ST	EVANSTON	IL	60208	COOK	USA	Aging Research	000	1	4/27/2020	NEW	$759,391
														Subtotal = $759,391

Grand Total All Awards = $3,681,158

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Cognitive SuperAging: A model to explore resilience and resistance to aging and Alzheimers disease

Award Number: R01AG067781

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2026

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