# Changing lives, changing brains: How modern family and work life influences ADRD risks

> **NIH NIH R01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $571,344

## Abstract

The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) is projected to triple by
2050. Currently, there is no known effective treatment for ADRD. Prevention through behavioral
changes affecting ADRD risk is therefore of utmost importance, and about 35% of ADRD risk is
thought to be attributable to potentially modifiable factors. Current changes in modern family life
and work are likely to have important effects on the risk of ADRD, as the work and family structure
multiple aspects of individuals lives and environments that are likely to be related to ADRD risks.
Yet, work and family trajectories as pathways and moderators of ADRD risk are understudied.
Our overall hypothesis is that contemporary changes in family patterns and work lives contribute
to age related changes in cognition and ADRD. A shift to “modern” family structures and work
tasks have occurred relatively early in Norway, and unique data availability allows these changes
to be studied prospectively to predict coming changes in ADRD in the US and other countries.
We will study life-course effects of and interactions between family and work in adulthood for risk
of ADRD and cognitive impairment in older adults. This will be done by exploiting the exceptional
Norwegian HUNT (Nord-Trondelag Health Study) dataset, a large ongoing prospective population
that includes cohorts born 1900 – 1960, combined with Norwegian national registry data. Using
these population-representative cohorts have exceptionally detailed health and socioeconomic
longitudinal data to address these issues. We will take advantage of specific events that create
natural experiments. Our results will help to identify “sensitive periods” over the life course and
how they mediate genetic risks of cognitive decline and ADRD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10055573
- **Project number:** 1R01AG069109-01
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** YAAKOV STERN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $571,344
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10055573

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10055573, Changing lives, changing brains: How modern family and work life influences ADRD risks (1R01AG069109-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10055573. Licensed CC0.

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