Aims: Our main aim is to identify genetically-driven pathways involved in brain and peripheral biological aging and how they differentially influence cognitive decline and neurodegenerative processes. Our second aim is to investigate the effect of dementia-related modifiable risk factors (e.g., lifestyle, socioeconomic status, exposure to air pollution) on these previously characterized biological pathways to further identify potential target interventions for promoting healthy aging in the populations.
Scientific rationale: As the population is growing older, it is a priority to develop effective strategies to deal with age-related diseases. While a big amount of research has worked in identifying molecular features that can be seen as measures of biological aging, other amounts of research is focusing on using neuroimaging techniques and machine learning methodologies to develop biomarkers of biological brain aging. However, all aging mechanisms are connected and influence each other. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate these mechanisms and how they differentially influence cognitive decline, which has not yet been studied at this level.
Public health impact: Identifying possible biological mechanisms linking brain aging, biological aging and neurodegenerative diseases will lead us to find potential treatment candidates for cognitive decline. Therefore, this project will contribute to the development of clinical and intervention trials to slow or stop cognitive decline.
Project duration: 3 years