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Launch research programs to develop and validate sensitive neuropsychological and behavioral assessment measures to detect and track the earliest clinical manifestations of AD and AD-related dementias.
2022 RFA-AG-13-015: Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Trials (R01) PAR-14-089: Early Stage Clinical Trials for the Spectrum of Alzheimer's Disease and Age-related Cognitive Decline (R01) PAR-16-365: Early Stage Clinical Trials for the Spectrum of Alzheimer's Disease and Age-related Cognitive Decline (R01) PAR-18-175: Early Stage Clinical Trials for the Spectrum of Alzheimer's Disease and Age-related Cognitive Decline (R01) PAR-18-877: Early Stage Clinical Trials for the Spectrum of Alzheimer's Disease and Age-related Cognitive Decline (R01) RFA-AG-15-011: Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease in Down Syndrome (R01) PAR-16-448: Basic and Translational Research on Decision Making in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (R01) PAR-16-449: Basic and Translational Research on Decision Making in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (R21) PAR-16-364: Phase III Clinical Trials for the Spectrum of Alzheimer's Disease and Age-related Cognitive Decline (R01) RFA-AG-17-052: Alzheimer's Disease Outcomes Research Resource (U2C) PAR-18-544: Basic and Translational Research on Decision Making in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (R01/R21) PAR-18-538: Basic and Translational Research on Decision Making in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (R21) PAR-18-581: Emotional Function in Normal Aging and/or MCI and AD/ADRD (R01) PAR-18-582: Emotional Function in Normal Aging and/or MCI and AD/ADRD (R21) RFA-AG-18-012: Mobile Monitoring of Cognitive Change (U2C) RFA-AG-20-050: Low Cost Detection of Cognitive Decline in Clinical Settings (R61/R33) RFA-AG-20-051: Low Cost Detection of Cognitive Decline in Clinical (R01) NOT-AG-20-040: Basic and Translational Research on Affective, Motivational, and Social Function in Normative Aging and/or Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias RFA-AG-20-022: Aging, Driving and Early Detection of Dementia (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) NOT-AG-21-048: Digital Technology for Early Detection and Monitoring of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias RFA-AG-23-007: Screening for Cognitive Impairment: Decision-Making (U24 Clinical Trial Optional) RFA-AG-23-021: More Monitoring of Cognitive Change, Continued (M3C3) (U2C Clinical Trial Optional) PAR-25-170: Digital Health Technology Derived Biomarkers and Outcome Assessments for Remote Monitoring and Endpoint Development (UG3/UH3 - Clinical Trial Optional) 9.H Achieved Launch research programs to develop and validate sensitive neuropsychological and behavioral assessment measures... DN 2012 AD Summit: 3D 2017 Dementia Care Summit: 2.3 and 2.5 News: NIH Supports new studies to find Alzheimer’s biomarkers in Down Syndrome News: Certain personality traits in high school may lower dementia risk five decades later News: New NIH grant awards boost funding for research on Down syndrome News: Scam susceptibility may signal risk for cognitive decline News: Lower handgrip strength associated with cognitive impairment News: Language performance as a predictor of future Alzheimer’s disease Mental disorders linked with an increased risk for dementia earlier in life Workshop: The Landscape of Early (Neuro)Psychological Changes in AD/ADRD Project Webinar Series Highlight: Increased financial generosity linked to lower cognition and may be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease Blog: Mobile Toolbox: Expand your cognitive assessment reach! Highlight: Cognitive impairment and gender show more impact on driving cessation than dementia biomarkers Highlight: AI speech analysis predicted progression of cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s with over 78% accuracy Alzheimer’s Biomarkers Consortium – Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) NIA Ongoing Alzheimer’s and Related Clinical Trials and Studies Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative (API) Anti-Amyloid Treatment In Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease Study (A4 study) Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network Trials Unit - Adaptive Prevention Trial (DIAN-TU) The Mobile Toolbox for Monitoring Cognitive Function ADNI Psychometrics Predictors of Severity in Alzheimer’s Disease Optimizing Cognitive Assessment in DIAN with Smartphone-based Burst Testing Novel Automated Performance-based ADL Outcomes For Early AD Clinical Trials Neurodegeneration In Aging Down Syndrome (NiAD): A Longitudinal Study Of Cognition And Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease In Adults With Down Syndrome Clinical Trials to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease in Down Syndrome Emotional Function in Normal Aging and/or MCI and AD/ADRD Mobile Toolbox Website Research Network on Decision Neuroscience and Aging 2014
- Development of at least one sensitive neuropsychological assessment measure that has been validated for the detection or tracking of the earliest clinical manifestations of AD and AD-related dementias.
- Extend ongoing research on social and emotional functioning and decision-making in MCI/AD to identify early behavioral markers of disease.
- Support research to develop clinical tools for assessment of early deficits in decision-making, motivation and social and emotional functioning in AD.
Summary of Key Accomplishments
In 2023, NIA established a research network on Advancing Reliable Measurement in Cognitive Aging and Decision-Making Ability (ARMCADA). The network aims to develop a taxonomy of decision-making skills for successful aging, establish new measures of decision-making, and facilitate scalable nationwide public dissemination of these measures to improve the early identification of older adults with cognitive impairment. ARMCADA will also facilitate evaluation of the efficacies of potential interventions aimed at mitigating cognitive decline commonly associated with AD/ADRD.
Also in 2023, NIA expanded the Mobile Toolbox initiative, a set of freely available smartphone tools to enhance self-administered cognitive tests, by adding assessments of non-cognitive socioemotional psychological functions, health states, and contextual factors that may modify cognitive performance. By expanding the initiative, NIA seeks to enable widespread dissemination and support for use of the associated tools, which have been developed for monitoring of age, state, context, or health condition-related changes in cognitive and non-cognitive abilities on mobile devices. Further, NIA-supported projects are studying social and emotional functioning, decision making, and driving behavior to identify early behavioral markers of cognitive decline. For example, one study found that increased financial generosity is linked to lower cognition and may be an early indicator of AD.
NIA also convened 35 experts in 2022 and 2023 for a series of webinars to discuss gaps in measuring early changes in AD/ADRD. These webinars identified constructs, measures, and new methods that could be leveraged (e.g., digital measures, AI/ML) to characterize early changes in AD/ADRD beyond cognition alone and identified several future research priorities.
Finally, NIA launched the Pioneering Research for Early Prediction of Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias EUREKA (PREPARE) Challenge in 2023 to advance solutions for accurate, innovative, and representative early prediction of AD/ADRD through three challenge phases that successively build on each other. Awards for the first phase will be made in late 2024, and phase II is expected to begin in September 2024.
The key accomplishments summary is current as of July 2024.