# Aging and Autobiographical Memory in Bilingual and Monolingual Hispanics.

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · 2020 · $45,520

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Hispanics in the United States (US) will experience the greatest increase in Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
diagnoses in the next four decades. Developing neuropsychological tests that can improve accurate detection
of age-related cognitive decline and early signs of AD in this population is essential for addressing this
impending social and healthcare crisis. Studies with majority non-Hispanic white populations have shown that
episodic autobiographical memory, which is memory for unique life events, is sensitive to normal cognitive
aging and AD risk. Intriguingly, episodic autobiographical memory may be a highly culturally appropriate, and
thus accurate, cognitive measure of age-related cognitive decline and AD risk for Hispanics, because it draws
on real-world, “personalized” events as opposed to more artificial and potentially culturally loaded learning
contexts (e.g., word lists). However, virtually nothing is known about episodic autobiographical memory in
Hispanics. Given that the majority of Hispanics in the US are bilingual, examining how episodic
autobiographical memory and bilingualism are related is important as well. Therefore, the overarching goal of
the proposed research is to investigate, for the first time, episodic autobiographical memory in a US sample of
bilingual and monolingual Hispanics, while examining related factors that might influence memory
performance. I will address this goal through three aims. Under the first aim, I ask the question “is episodic
autobiographical memory sensitive to age in US Hispanics?” With aim 2, I investigate if bilingualism is
associated with episodic autobiographical memory in Hispanics. Finally, through aim 3, which is an exploratory
aim, I examine whether episodic autobiographical memory in Hispanics is modulated by language at encoding
/ retrieval or if it is related to inhibition. My hope is that by addressing these aims, we will introduce episodic
autobiographical memory testing as a novel neuropsychological approach through which to accurately capture
age-related memory decline in US Hispanics, which can set the stage for further work on characterizing the
cognitive profile of AD risk in this population. In line with the goal of the National Institutes of Health to enhance
diversity in the biomedical workforce, the training goals for this fellowship are intended to significantly advance
my goals to become a clinical neuropsychologist and independent researcher whose research and clinical
practice will contribute to a better understanding of how to improve the evaluation of memory disorders and
other neurodegenerative diseases in US Hispanics. In addition, through the proposed training opportunities, I
anticipate that I will: 1) contribute to the development of novel neuropsychological measures that improve
sensitivity to the early detection of memory disorders in Hispanics; 2) learn how to establish lasting
relationships between the university, clinic, and community; 3...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10067244
- **Project number:** 1F31AG069443-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
- **Principal Investigator:** Monica Acevedo Molina
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $45,520
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-18 → 2022-11-17

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10067244

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10067244, Aging and Autobiographical Memory in Bilingual and Monolingual Hispanics. (1F31AG069443-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10067244. Licensed CC0.

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