# Projecting the Potential Impact of Mindfulness-based Meditation on the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2020 · $384,016

## Abstract

Project Abstract
While many studies showed the effect of mindfulness meditation (MM) on immune function, quality
of life, stress, pain, substance abuse, medication adherence, sleep quality, as well as biomarkers
(e.g., salivary cortisol), the long-term protective effect of MM on cognitive function and AD and its
related dementia (ADRD) has yet to be established. In addition, it is unclear how promoting and
expanding MM may potentially influence AD incidence and its related healthcare costs in the US.
The proposed Administrative Supplement grant aims to fill these important research gaps in two
ways. First, we will expand the CVD Policy Model programmed and calibrated in our Parent R01
grant by including AD, a disease with many similar risk factors as CVD. Second, while the Parent
grant focuses on traditional lifestyle interventions such as smoking cessation, the Supplement will
assess the impact of an emerging lifestyle intervention (i.e., MM) on long-term outcomes. The long-
term goal of the proposed study is to project the effectiveness and/or cost-effectiveness of applying
MM interventions on the development of ADRD. Our specific aims are: Aim 1. Examine the
association between MM practice, hypertension status, and ADRD mortality risk using longitudinal
data. Aim 2. Project the impact of expanding MM on AD in the US. The proposed project is
innovative because it is the first to summarize the latest evidence about MM and AD as well as
quantify the mechanism of how MM could modify the risk factors of AD and potentially reduce the
burden of ADRD. Our proposed study is significant because it assesses a non-AD intervention
(MM)'s role in ADRD control: as MM is known to reduce stress and other risk factors that relate to
the onset of ADRD, it is important to examine MM's possible role in addressing ADRD-related
public health challenge.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10123693
- **Project number:** 3R01MD013886-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Donglan Zhang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $384,016
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-07-11 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10123693

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10123693, Projecting the Potential Impact of Mindfulness-based Meditation on the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease (3R01MD013886-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10123693. Licensed CC0.

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