# Mediators and Moderators of Perceptual Learning

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE · 2020 · $402,136

## Abstract

This supplement seeks to advance understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Alzheimer's
disease related dementias (ADRD) by clarifying relationships between measures of visual
processing, cognitive functioning, and perceptual learning in a diverse older adult population,
including those with prodromal AD/ADRD and MCI. The proposed supplement is within the scope of
the funded project, entitled “Mediators and Moderators of Perceptual Learning” which already aims
to examine such relationships in older adults without dementia. Here we propose to expand
inclusions to better target older adults with possible prodromal AD/ADRD and to add new measures
to better characterize cognitive function in this population. Indeed, the well-documented age-related
declines that occur in vision and in cognition as a result of normal aging are considered major issues
in regard to individuals' health and well-being as well as with respect to more global economic and
social policies, with these issues being more severe, and thus taking on even greater relevance, in
the context of AD/ADRD. The proposed supplement is premised on the observation that age-related
declines in centrally mediated visual processes may explain unaccounted for variance in estimates of
higher-cognitive function and that likewise cognitive factors may explain unaccounted for variance in
estimates of visual functions. As such, whether in the context of understanding outcome measures of
perceptual learning (such as in the current proposal), or whether testing vision in the clinic, it is
essential to consider measures of cognition, and how they change, as a moderating factor in
estimating visual processes. Further, measures of central visual processes may help identify
individuals with prodromal AD/ADRD. In this manner we can gain new insights into the reciprocal role
that vision and cognitive processes play in the aging process from both a mechanistic and a practical
perspective. This is likely to stimulate additional activity by giving rise to a unique data-set that
can be used as a foundation for new lines of research that can potentially lead to new behavioral
biomarkers of prodromal AD/ADRD. Thus, the supplement can also promote development of new
procedures to more accurately measure vision and cognitive function in older adults suffering from
cognitive impairments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10122706
- **Project number:** 3R01EY031226-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTOPHER S GREEN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $402,136
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10122706

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10122706, Mediators and Moderators of Perceptual Learning (3R01EY031226-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10122706. Licensed CC0.

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