People whose parents had dementia or memory impairment are at higher risk for later-life cognitive impairment themselves. One goal of our research is to identify factors that either increase the risk of or protect against family history of dementia over the life course. External locus of control has been associated with lower cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults. Previous findings have shown that adults racialized as Black have relatively high levels of external locus of control due to inequity and racism. We hypothesized that lower parental memory would be associated with lower offspring memory among Non-Latinx Black and Non-Latinx White (hereafter Black and White, respectively) adults; and associations would be stronger among participants with higher levels of external locus of control.

Participants comprised 594 adults racialized as Black or White (60.3% Black; 62% women; aged 56.1 ± 10.4; 15.3 ± 2.7 years of education) from the Offspring Study who are the adult children of participants in the Washington Heights Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP). Parental memory was residualized for age (74.3 ± 6.0) and education (13.7 ± 3.1). Self-reported external locus of control was assessed using 8 items from the the perceived control questionnaire. Memory was assessed with the Selective Reminding Test, and a composite of total and delayed recall scores were computed. Linear regression quantified the interaction between parental memory and external locus of control on memory in models stratified by race, and adjusted for age, sex/gender, and number of chronic health diseases.

Among Black participants (n=358), there were no main effects of parental memory or locus of control on offspring memory. However, lower parental memory was associated with lower offspring memory among Black participants with high levels of external locus of control (standardized estimate=0.36, p=0.02, 95%CI [0.05, 0.67]). Associations were attenuated and non-significant at lower levels of control. Among White participants (n=236), there was a main effect of parental memory on offspring memory, and this association did not vary by levels of external locus of control.

Poor parental memory, which reflects risk for later-life cognitive impairment and dementia, was associated with lower memory performance among White middle-aged participants. Among Black participants, this association was observed among those with high levels of external locus of control only. Economic and social constraints shape levels of external locus of control and are disproportionately experienced by Black adults. In the face of greater external locus of control, a cascade of psychological and biological stress-related processes may be triggered and make Black adults’ memory function more vulnerable to the detrimental impact of parent-related dementia risk. Longitudinal analyses are needed to clarify temporal associations. Nonetheless, these findings suggest that reducing social and economic inequities disproportionately experienced by Black adults may dampen the effect of intergenerational transmission of dementia risk on cognition.

Social support may protect against Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), potentially through emotional or instrumental support elements. Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults bear a disproportionate burden of ADRD. However, independent effects of emotional and instrumental support on cognition, a primary indicator of ADRD risk, are largely understudied in these groups. Guided by the differential vulnerability hypothesis – the theoretical framework which posits that systemic racism disadvantages Black and Hispanic/Latinx individuals’ health – we hypothesize that emotional and instrumental support may be particularly important to protect against worse cognition for Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults, who often have fewer resources due to these inequalities (e.g., wealth, educational opportunities) to otherwise maintain health. Using the NIH Toolbox Emotion Module measures of emotional (e.g., the extent to which individuals can rely on others in challenging times) and instrumental support (e.g., the extent to which individuals can rely on others for assistance in daily activities), we aimed to identify positive social support factors (i.e., emotional and instrumental support) that may protect against ADRD risk (i.e., longitudinal executive function and memory performance) among Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults.

Participants were 362 Black and 265 Hispanic/Latinx adults aged 65-89 (63% female, average age=75) from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) Study who completed baseline and up to two additional waves of assessments (every 1.5 years), including questionnaires, neuropsychological evaluations, and the NIH toolbox. Predictors included baseline covariates (i.e., age, language of test administration, gender, education, income, self-rated health) and NIH toolbox emotional and instrumental support variables. Outcomes were baseline and longitudinal memory (visual and verbal episodic memory) and executive functioning (verbal fluency and working memory) composites from the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS). Latent growth curve models were conducted separately in Black and Hispanic/Latinx participants to estimate effects of emotional and instrumental support on baseline cognition and subsequent change in each domain.

Black participants reported greater emotional support. There were no group differences in levels of instrumental support. Greater instrumental support was associated with better initial memory (standardized β= .194, 95%CI: [.063, .325]) among Black participants but not among Hispanic/Latinx participants. In Hispanic/Latinx participants, greater emotional support was associated with better initial executive functioning (standardized β= .215, 95%CI: [.079, .350]. Emotional support was not associated with either cognitive domain in Black participants. There were no associations between emotional or instrumental support on cognitive change in either group.

Results point to differences between Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults in the impact of specific aspects of social support on different cognitive domains. Positive associations between instrumental support and baseline memory in Black participants and between emotional support and executive functioning in Hispanic/Latinx participants suggest unique cognitive consequences of social support across groups. Differences in the role of specific types of social supports may be useful in identifying intervention targets specifically for Black and Hispanic/Latinx older adults, who are disproportionately affected by ADRD. Future research will examine these constructs using multiple group models to test these associations more rigorously.

Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is typically assessed through brain MRI, and proprietary software can provide normative quantification of regional atrophy. However, proprietary software can be cost-prohibitive for research settings. Thus, we used the freely available software NOrmative Morphometry Image Statistics (NOMIS) which generates normative z-scores of segmented T1-weighted images from FreeSurfer to determine if these scores replicate established patterns of neurodegeneration in the context of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and whether these measures correlate with episodic memory test performance.

Patients with aMCI (n = 25) and cognitively normal controls (CN; n = 74) completed brain MRI and two neuropsychological tests of episodic memory (the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and the Wechsler Logical Memory Tests I & II), from which a single composite of normed scores was computed. A subset returned for follow-up (aMCI n = 11, CN n = 52) after ∼15 months and completed the same procedures. T1-weighted images were segmented using FreeSurfer v6.0 and the outputs were submitted to NOMIS to generate normative morphometric estimates for AD-relevant regions (i.e., hippocampus, parahippocampus, entorhinal cortex, amygdala) and control regions (i.e., cuneus, lingual gyrus, pericalcarine gyrus), controlling for age, sex, head size, scanner manufacturer, and field strength. Baseline data were used to test for differences in ROI volumes and memory between groups and to assess the within-group associations between ROI volumes and memory performance. We also evaluated changes in ROI volumes and memory over the follow-up interval by testing the main effects of time, group, and the group X time interactions. Lastly, we tested whether change in volume was associated with declines in memory.

At baseline, the aMCI group performed 2 SD below the CN group on episodic memory and exhibited smaller volumes in all AD-relevant regions (volumes 0.4 - 1.2 SD below CN group, ps < .041). There were no group differences in control region volumes. Memory performance was associated with volumes of the AD-relevant regions in the aMCI group (average rho = .51) but not with control regions. ROI volumes were not associated with memory in the CN group. At follow-up, the aMCI group continued to perform 2 SD below the CN group on episodic memory tests; however, change of performance over time did not differ between groups. The aMCI group continued to exhibit smaller volumes in all AD-relevant regions than the CN group, with greater declines in hippocampal volume (17% annual decline vs. 8% annual decline) and entorhinal volume (54% annual decline vs. 5% annual decline). There was a trending Group X Time interaction such that decrease in hippocampal volume was marginally associated with decline in memory for the aMCI group but not the CN group.

Normative morphometric values generated from freely available software demonstrated expected patterns of group differences in AD-related volumes and associations with memory. Significant effects were localized to AD-relevant brain regions and only occurred in the aMCI group. These findings support the validity of these free tools as reliable and cost-effective alternatives to proprietary software.

Higher education is strongly associated with better cognitive function in older adults. Previous research has also showed that positive psychosocial factors, such as selfefficacy and emotional and instrumental support, are beneficial for late-life cognition. There is prior evidence of a buffering effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between educational disadvantage and poor cognition in older adults, however it is not known if other psychosocial factors modify the schooling-cognition relationship. We hypothesized that higher levels of emotional and instrumental support will diminish the association between lower education and lower cognitive test scores among older adults.

553 older adults without dementia (42.1% non-Latinx Black, 32.2% non-Latinx White, 25.7% Latinx; 63.2% women; average age 74.4 (SD 4.3)) from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project. Neuropsychological tests assessed four cognitive domains (language, memory, psychomotor processing speed, and visuospatial function). Self-reported emotional and instrumental support were assessed with measures from NIH Toolbox. Linear regression estimated interactions between education and the two support measures on cognition in models stratified by cognitive domain and racial and ethnic group. Covariates included age, sex/gender, and chronic health conditions (e.g. heart disease, stroke, cancer, etc.).

Education was associated with cognition across racial and ethnic groups. For every one year of schooling, the processing speed z-score composite was 0.33 higher among Latinx participants, 0.10 among non-Latinx Black participants, and 0.03 higher among non-Latinx White participants. The education-cognition relationship was generally similar across cognitive domains with larger effects in non-Latinx Black and Latinx participants than in White participants. Low education was associated with slower processing speed among Black participants with low emotional support (B = 0.224, 95% CI [0.014, 0.096]), but there was no association between low education and processing speed among Black older adults with high levels of emotional support (beta for interaction = -.142, 95% CI [-0.061, -0.001]). A similar pattern of results was observed for instrumental support (beta for interaction = -.207, 95% CI [-0.064, 0.010]). There were no interactions between support and education on other cognitive domains or among Latinx and White participants.

We found that higher levels of emotional and instrumental support attenuate the detrimental effect of educational disadvantages on processing speed in older Black adults. This may occur via benefits of social capital, which provides access to health resources and knowledge, increased social interaction, an emotional outlet allowing the ability to better cope with stress. Longitudinal analyses are needed to examine temporal patterns of associations. In addition, improving equitable access to high quality schools will improve later-life cognitive outcomes for future generations of older adults. However, for the growing number of Black older adults who will not experience the benefits of structural improvements in the education system, emotional and instrumental support may represent a modifiable psychosocial factor to reduce their disproportionate burden of cognitive morbidity.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with worse cognitive health in older adulthood. This study aimed to extend findings on the specificity, persistence, and pathways of associations between two ACEs and cognition by using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and a time-lagged mediation design.

Participants were 3304 older adults in the Health and Retirement Study Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol. Participants retrospectively reported whether they were exposed to parental substance abuse or experienced parental physical abuse before age 18. Factor scores derived from a battery of 13 neuropsychological tests indexed cognitive domains of episodic memory, executive functioning, processing speed, language, and visuospatial function. Structural equation models examined self-reported years of education and stroke as mediators, controlling for sociodemographics and childhood socioeconomic status.

Parental substance abuse in childhood was associated with worse later-life cognitive function across all domains, in part via pathways involving educational attainment and stroke. Parental physical abuse was associated with worse cognitive outcomes via stroke independent of education.

This national longitudinal study in the United States provides evidence for broad and persistent indirect associations between two ACEs and cognitive aging via differential pathways involving educational attainment and stroke. Future research should examine additional ACEs and mechanisms as well as moderators of these associations to better understand points of intervention.

Stress is a risk factor for numerous negative health outcomes, including cognitive impairment in late-life. The negative association between stress and cognition may be mediated by depressive symptoms, which separate studies have identified as both a consequence of perceived stress and a risk factor for cognitive decline. Pathways linking perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and cognition may be moderated by sociodemographics and psychosocial resources. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to identify modifying factors and enhance understanding of the mechanisms underlying the stress–cognition association in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of older adults.

A linear regression estimated the association between perceived stress and episodic memory in 578 older adults (Mage = 74.58) in the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project. Subsequent models tested whether depressive symptoms mediated the stress–memory relationship and whether sociodemographics (gender, race, and ethnicity) or perceived control moderated these pathways.

Independent of sociodemographics and chronic diseases, greater perceived stress was associated with worse episodic memory. This relationship was mediated by more depressive symptoms. Higher perceived control buffered the association between stress and depressive symptoms. There was no significant moderation by gender, race, or ethnicity.

Depressive symptoms may play a role in the negative association between perceived stress and cognition among older adults; however, longitudinal analyses and studies using experimental designs are needed. Perceived control is a modifiable psychological resource that may offset the negative impact of stress.

Previous cross-sectional studies have documented associations between positive psychosocial factors, such as self-efficacy and emotional support, and late-life cognition. Further, the magnitudes of concurrent associations may differ across racial and ethnic groups that differ in Alzheimer’s disease risk. The goals of this longitudinal study were to characterize prospective associations between positive psychosocial factors and cognitive decline and explicitly test for differential impact across race and ethnicity.

578 older adults (42% non-Hispanic Black, 31% non-Hispanic White, and 28% Hispanic) in the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project completed cognitive and psychosocial measures from the NIH Toolbox and standard neuropsychological tests over 2.4 years. Latent difference scores were used to model associations between positive psychosocial factors and cognitive decline controlling for baseline cognition, sociodemographics, depressive symptoms, physical health, and other positive psychosocial factors. Multiple-group modeling was used to test interactions between the positive psychosocial factors and race/ethnicity.

Higher NIH Toolbox Friendship scores predicted less episodic memory decline. One standard deviation increase in friendship corresponded to 6 fewer years of memory aging. This association did not significantly differ across racial/ethnic groups.

This longitudinal study provides support for the potential importance of friendships for subsequent episodic memory trajectories among older adults from three ethnic groups. Further study into culturally informed interventions is needed to investigate whether and how friend networks may be targeted to promote cognitive health in late life.

Social engagement may be an important protective resource for cognitive aging. Some evidence suggests that time spent with friends may be more beneficial for cognition than time spent with family. Because maintaining friendships has been demonstrated to require more active maintenance and engagement in shared activities, activity engagement may be one underlying pathway that explains the distinct associations between contact frequency with friends versus family and cognition.

Using two waves of data from the national survey of Midlife in the United States (n = 3707, Mage = 55.80, 51% female at baseline), we examined longitudinal associations between contact frequency with friends and family, activity engagement (cognitive and physical activities), and cognition (episodic memory and executive functioning) to determine whether activity engagement mediates the relationship between contact frequency and cognition.

The longitudinal mediation model revealed that more frequent contact with friends, but not family, was associated with greater concurrent engagement in physical and cognitive activities, which were both associated with better episodic memory and executive functioning.

These findings suggest that time spent with friends may promote both cognitively and physically stimulating activities that could help to preserve not only these social relationships but also cognitive functioning.