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Dementia research lacks appropriate representation of diverse groups who often face substantial adversity and greater risk of dementia. Current research participants are primarily well‐resourced, non‐Hispanic White, cisgender adults who live close to academic medical centers where much of the research is based. Consequently, the field faces a knowledge gap about Alzheimer's‐related risk factors in those other groups. The Alzheimer's Association hosted a virtual conference on June 14–16, 2021, supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (R13 AG072859‐01), focused on health disparities. The conference was held entirely online and consisted of 2 days of core programming and a day of focused meetings centered on American Indian and Alaska Natives and on LGBTQIA+ populations. Over 1300 registrants attended discussions focused on the structural and systemic inequities experienced across diverse groups, as well as ways to investigate and address these inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Greater within‐person variability in cognitive performance on mobile devices is emerging as a sensitive marker of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). It is unclear if sociodemographic differences are associated with this variability, and if so, whether these differences moderate associations between MCI status and within‐person variability. We use a digital health approach with ecological momentary assessments (EMA) to examine sociodemographic differences in within‐day variability among individuals with MCI and those who were cognitively unimpaired (CU). Method: A sample of 308 community‐dwelling older adults from the Einstein Aging Study (mean age = 77.49 years, SD = 4.86, range = 70‐90; 67% female; 45% non‐Hispanic White, 41% non‐Hispanic Black) completed neuropsychological testing and self‐reported questionnaires. Ninety‐eight individuals met Jak/Bondi criteria for MCI. All participants performed mobile tests of processing speed and memory binding on a smartphone up to six times daily over a two‐week period. We employed heterogeneous variance multilevel models to assess sociodemographic and MCI status associations with within‐day variability across assessments. We further tested whether differences in age, gender, race, and education moderated associations between MCI status and within‐day variability. Result: For processing speed, greater variability was apparent in individuals with MCI, non‐Hispanic Black participants, and individuals with less education (ps<.001). A MCI status*gender interaction occurred; the association between MCI status and variability remained significant for both genders but was smaller among women (p<.01). For memory binding, greater variability was apparent in individuals with MCI, older participants, non‐Hispanic Black participants, and individuals with less education (ps<.001). Numerous interactions occurred; in separate analyses, associations between MCI status and variability remained significant, but were smaller among women, non‐Hispanic Black participants, and individuals with less education (ps<.05). Conclusion: Individuals with MCI exhibited greater within‐day variability in mobile cognitive performance than those who were CU, but the strength of these associations varied by sociodemographic factors. These indices of variability in everyday life may serve as sensitive markers of early cognitive impairment. Future research should examine daily mechanisms and environmental perturbations (e.g., stress, sleep, air pollution) that may explain why associations between MCI status and cognitive variability appeared smaller among women, non‐Hispanic Black participants, and individuals with less education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Among older adults, total and hospitalized infection may be associated with incidence of all‐cause and Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementias, with variation by cardiovascular health (CVH). METHODS: We used Cox proportional hazards (PH) models to examine the relationships between International Classification of Diseases‐10th revision (ICD‐10)‐specific viral and bacterial infectious agents and incident all‐cause and AD dementia among 355,046 UK Biobank participants ≥50 years at baseline. Life's Essential 8 (LE8) index reflected CVH. RESULTS: In both sexes, total infection burden (yes vs. no) was associated with all‐cause dementia, with significant interactions by LE8 tertiles, whereby this relationship was significant only in the lowest LE8 tertile. Hospital‐treated infection burden (yes vs no) was significantly related to all‐cause and AD dementia, with no significant interaction with LE8 tertile. Age group patterns were detected. DISCUSSION: AD and all‐cause dementia were related to hospital‐treated infections, while CVH modified the relationship of total infection burden with all‐cause dementia. Highlights: Secondary analysis on >355,000 UK Biobank participants ≥50 years at baseline.Alzheimer's disease and all‐cause dementia are both related to hospital‐treated infection.Cardiovascular health modifies association of infection burden with all‐cause dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Life's Simple 7 (LS7), originally proposed as the seven most important predictors of heart health, is associated with negative cognitive outcomes (Thacker et al., 2014). The recently updated Life's Essential 8 (LE8) includes sleep. Limited research has investigated the association between LE8 and cognition, particularly within Black and White adults. We hypothesize that higher composite LE8 scores will be associated with better cognitive performance, particularly within Black adults. Method: Cross‐sectional analyses were conducted including adults from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Life Span (HANDLS) study conducted in Baltimore, MD. Study participants (36‐76 years old; 41% male; 61% Black) completed all LE8 (Lloyd‐Jones et al., 2022) and global cognition measurements in wave 4 data collection (2013‐2017). Cognitive performance on a computerized cognitive battery (Joggle Research) yielded a total global cognition score and individual domains (e.g., working memory, attention). Linear regression analyses were stratified by race and poverty status (below 125% Federal poverty guidelines), education attainment (high school), and reading literacy (median split) respectively. Covariates included age, sex, sleep apnea, and depression. All reported models were fully adjusted. Result: Among Black adults, higher LE8 scores (better CVH) were associated with better working memory only among individuals living above the poverty level (all b unstandardized; b = 0.008, p =.016), or only with high school education (b = 0.009, p =.027). Among White adults, higher LE8 score was associated with better working memory, particularly among individuals living above poverty level (b = 0.014, p =.002), having an education above high school (b = 0.019, p =.002), or high literacy (b = 0.021, p<.001). Additionally, higher LE8 scores were associated with better attention, and higher global cognition score among individuals living above poverty (b = 0.015, p =.042; b = 0.039, p =.025) or with a high literacy on (b = 0.023, p =.014; b = 0.049, p =.027). Conclusion: Higher score of LE8 was associated with better working memory among both U.S. Black and White adults. However, higher LE8 scores were associated with performance across a larger variety of cognitive domains within White adults from diverse socioeconomic indicators. These findings illustrate unique LE8 and cognition associations when disentangling socioeconomic heterogeneity within racial groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have suggested that neighborhood quality is associated with health outcomes beyond individuals' socioeconomic characteristics (Kind & Buckingham, 2018; Ludwig et al., 2011). Limited research has explored how subjective neighborhood quality is associated with cognitive functioning, particularly among socioeconomically diverse Black adults. The current study examined the cross‐sectional association between perceived neighborhood characteristics and cognitive functioning among Black adults. Method: This study included 1,079 community‐dwelling, socioeconomically diverse Black adults (Mage = 56.64, SDage = 9.14; 59% female) from wave 4 of the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. Neighborhood quality was assessed using three scales about built environment disorder (e.g., litter, graffiti, and crime), social cohesion (e.g., close‐knit neighborhood, neighbors can be trusted), and social control (e.g., neighbors take action for children disrespecting adults). Cognitive functioning was assessed using the computerized Joggle battery. Multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted with each cognitive measure as the outcome measure. Models were adjusted for age, sex, education, reading literacy, poverty status, and depressive symptoms. Result: In the adjusted models, higher built environment disorder was associated with slower performance (p <.05) on an attention and visual orientation measure and fewer correct responses (p's <.05) on attention, executive function, and speed measures. High social cohesion was associated with faster performance (p <.05) on attention, visual orientation, executive function, and speed measures. Additionally, high social cohesion was associated with greater numbers of correct responses (p <.05) on an attention and executive function measure. Interestingly, high social control was associated with slower performance on executive function. Significant interactions were observed between neighborhood quality and covariates. For example, higher perceived social cohesion was associated with slower average reaction time on memory and attention, particularly for individuals with higher depression total scores. In contrast, higher perceived social cohesion was associated with faster average reaction time on executive functioning, particularly for men. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of environmental characteristics for cognitive performance among Black adults. Further, these findings support the continued assessment of contextual factors as mechanisms or avenues for understanding how to improve cognitive functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]