# Neurobiology of Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly

> **NIH NIH P01** · ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $2,390,023

## Abstract

OVERALL PROGRAM SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting >6 million older
people in the USA for which there is no viable treatment option. Accordingly, defining the earliest cellular and
molecular mechanisms that drive the preclinical phase of dementia to develop novel disease modifying
therapeutics is a public health priority worldwide. The thrust of our PPG entitled “Neurobiology of Mild
Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly” continues to be to elucidate the cellular and molecular basis or chain of
events leading from no cognitive impairment (NCI) to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the time-points
considered the most likely therapeutic windows for treating dementia. Moreover, we continue to focus our
efforts on NCI subjects with AD pathology suggestive of preclinical AD, in order to resolve the molecular and
cellular neuropathogenic sequela underlying this preclincal stage of the disease. We will implement a series of
interrelated connectome projects centered on the cholinergic basal forebrain (CBF)-default mode network
(DMN) circuit, which is critical for memory and executive function and displays early pathology and biomaker
activity prior to MCI (prodromal AD). CBF neuron dysfunction plays a pivotal role in the onset of clinical
dementia and is the basis for the majority of FDA approved drugs for AD. This PPG competitive renewal
application continues to bring together a number of basic and clinical scientists with multidisciplinary,
complementary expertise in preclinical AD to investigate circuit-based neuronal system dysfunction at the
earliest stages in the disease process. The PPG includes an Administrative & Clinical/Tissue Distribution Core,
a Statistics & Data Management Core and three research projects titled: Tau Abnormalities and Mild Cognitive
Impairment in the Elderly Scott Counts, Project Leader, PL, Michigan State University, Cholinergic Basal
Forebrain Neurotrophic Abnormalities and Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly (Elliott Mufson, PL, Barrow
Neurologic Institute/Banner Alzheimer’s Institute), and Synaptic and Cholinergic Abnormalities in Mild
Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly (Milos Ikonomovic, PL University of Pittsburgh). The Cores support each
Project and all Projects interact intellectually, scientifically, and thematically. All Cores and Projects utilize
the same Rush Religious Orders Study (RROS) cases and tissues for continuity, which confers the ability to
correlate biologic measures with cognitive and neuropathological criterion. The lack of true animal models and
a lack of efficacy of current drugs make our human clinical pathological studies particularly relevant for
understanding mechanisms of preclinical AD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10132944
- **Project number:** 5P01AG014449-23
- **Recipient organization:** ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** ELLIOTT Jay MUFSON
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,390,023
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-09-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10132944

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10132944, Neurobiology of Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly (5P01AG014449-23). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10132944. Licensed CC0.

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