# Can Behavior Shape Neural Health? Identifying Modifiable Factors to Prevent Cognitive Decline in Age

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2021 · $199,044

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 In this K23 career development award, Dr. Kaitlin Casaletto will develop training in biologically-targeted
lifestyle strategies for the prevention of age-related cognitive decline. Dr. Casaletto is a postdoctoral fellow in
clinical neuropsychology who will be transitioning to faculty at the University of California, San Francisco
Memory and Aging Center (MAC). Her longer term goal is to become a leading clinical aging researcher
developing behaviorally-based interventions to promote brain health and improve patient outcomes with age.
Through the support of this K23 and the enriched transdisciplinary training environment and resources at the
MAC, Dr. Casaletto aims to accomplish the following training goals: 1) gain expertise in the neurobiology of
aging with a focus on environmentally modifiable pathways; 2) develop specialized proficiency in plasma and
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker analytic platforms for clinical research; 3) expand skills in randomized trial
design; 4) translate the K23 training and findings into an R01 developing a behavioral intervention to prevent
age-related neurodegeneration. To achieve these goals, Dr. Casaletto has assembled an exemplary
mentorship team, including her primary mentor, Dr. Joel Kramer, a neuropsychologist with decades of research
dedicated to the measurement of behavior and cognition in aging; co-mentor, Dr. Kristine Yaffe, a professor of
neurology, psychiatry, and epidemiology who is a leader in the identification of lifestyle prevention factors in
AD; collaborator, Dr. Lennart Mucke, a neurobiologist who investigates and directs a UCSF-affiliated institute
characterizing the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases; collaborator, Dr. Henrik Zetterberg, a
neurochemist who developed the CSF biomarkers proposed in this K23; collaborator, Dr. Adam Gazzaley, a
neuroscientist who directs a research center developing technologies to optimize brain function; and
collaborator, Dr. John Neuhaus, a biostatistician with expertise in advanced modeling of biomedical data.
 The overarching goal of the proposed study is to characterize the relationship between lifestyle
cognitive and physical behaviors and proteomic markers of neural health in aging and AD. The central
rationale is that neural plasticity occurs throughout adulthood, is dysregulated in AD, and can be induced with
behaviors. Though modifiable lifestyle factors are estimated to account for >9 million AD cases worldwide,
behavioral prevention strategies have not been neurobiologically-targeted, limiting their potency. First, we will
determine the relationship between daily cognitive and physical behaviors and protein markers of neural
function in plasma and CSF in adults at-risk for and with AD. These models will be replicated in an
independent sample. Second, we will manipulate cognitive and physical behaviors using a randomized training
experiment and determine the directional impact on neural protein concentrations. This t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10173593
- **Project number:** 5K23AG058752-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Kaitlin B Casaletto
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $199,044
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-04-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10173593

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10173593, Can Behavior Shape Neural Health? Identifying Modifiable Factors to Prevent Cognitive Decline in Age (5K23AG058752-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10173593. Licensed CC0.

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