In 2012, a longitudinal study called the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project (VMAP) was established. The goal of the study is to investigate the correlation between cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health and brain function, especially as it relates to the development of Alzheimer’s disease in hopes of creating prevention and more advanced treatment. With additional funding received in 2020 from the National Institutes of Health, the university is recruiting new participants to the study.
“Understanding the vascular contributions to the multiple pathways of Alzheimer’s pathology offers researchers a chance to identify intervention targets much earlier in the disease process,” explains the project’s website.
Anyone 50 years of age or older is eligible to become a part of the study. Those accepted into the study are paid to participate. Significant time is spent obtaining extensive information about each participant, including demographics, clinical history, and genetics. Those participating will receive blood work, go through cognitive testing, have actigraphy, cardiac imaging and neuroimaging. Researchers will be looking at specific molecular markers that will tell them about the participants’ current health and potential health issues.
In order to study physical changes to participants over time, each participant will take part in an extensive initial screening examination. The screening takes about 11 hours and it is split over several days. “At baseline, participants complete a physical and frailty examination, fasting blood draw, neuropsychological assessment, echocardiogram, cardiac MRI, and brain MRI. A subset of participants will undergo 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and a lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid collection,” notes the website. This extensive examination will take place again 18 months later, then three years after that, and then every other year for the rest of their life or as long as they live in the area. The initial study included 335 participants from the Nashville area between the ages of 60 and 92.
What makes this study different is that until now, Alzheimer’s research has primarily focused on the origins of “amyloid,” the protein that abnormally accumulates in the brain forming plaque. “However,” says the website, “it is increasingly recognized that Alzheimer’s disease is much more complex. Vascular health in the brain may be an essential driver of phosphorylated tau, the second abnormal protein that accumulates in Alzheimer’s disease that is closely linked to cognitive decline.”
Participant record keeping begins with the gathering of basic demographic information about the person in the study and information about their medical history, including information about immunizations, allergies, illnesses, surgeries and the results from blood work and a basic physical exam. These help researchers find specific biomarkers related to disease. Biomarkers can be specific cells, molecules, genes, gene products, enzymes, or hormones.
Genetic markers are another study point. Researchers will look into heredity factors involved in developing cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s.
Cognitive testing measures how the brain works. There are multiple types of cognitive testing with each involving performing simple tasks or answering a series of questions that have been designed to measure memory, language and the ability to recognize objects. From a patient’s performance on these tests, researchers gain information about thinking, learning, remembering, reasoning, attention span, concentration, abstract thinking, decision making, judgment and more.
Besides heart and brain imaging, participants will also have actigraphy. Actigraphy helps to identify sleep issues, like insomnia, sleep-interruptions and circadian rhythm disorders. Over time, lack of sleep can have a significant impact on both cardiac and brain health.
Those who went into the study with reservations found the staff calming, considerate and professional. “The attitude of the staff and the care they took relieved any anxiety I had about the MRI,” said one participant. “They made me feel comfortable.”
“I had never had a lumbar puncture before,” said another participant, “but [the clinician] was very good. She talked to me the entire time, and I didn’t feel a thing.”
Results from this study have the potential to contribute to the development of better prevention and treatment for memory loss in the future. Also, participants will receive significant information about their own health at no charge.
To learn more about the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project, contact their Community Outreach and Engagement Manager, Pam Cowley, by phone at (6150 875-3175, email at [email protected] or complete the engagement survey here.
