# Psychosocial and Neighborhood Mechanisms and Consequences of Black-White Sleep Disparities on Cognition

> **NIH NIH UF1** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2021 · $1,342,015

## Abstract

Project Summary
Black-White differences have been observed in cognitive performance and risk for
cognitive impairment, particularly Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD).
Few studies have examined how sleep may further explain these disparities, especially
considering that sleep disturbances are common in Blacks. Since disparities in cognition
and sleep have been observed in middle-aged adults, this portion of the lifespan is ideal to
investigate the association between sleep and cognitive decline as well as the underlying
psychosocial, contextual, and biomarker factors that influence sleep and/or cognitive
Black-White disparities. Every year for 4 years, the proposed study will collect measures
of sleep duration and quality, cognitive functioning, inflammatory biomarkers (e.g., CRP,
IL-6), life stressors, and resilience factors (e.g., spirituality, coping) in a sample of middle-
aged Black and White participants from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity
Across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. The overall objective of this study is to identify
mechanisms of Black-White sleep disparities and the mechanisms that account for Black-
White differences in ADRD risk. The central hypothesis is that racial disparities in sleep
will be associated with racial disparities in cognitive decline. Guided by the investigators’
previous research, three specific aims will be tested: 1) To determine if there are racial
differences in the daily coupling of sleep and mobile cognitive performance and whether
differences in this coupling are moderated by life stressors (e.g., financial strain and
neighborhood disorder); 2) To test longitudinal associations among sleep and
performance on mobile cognitive assessments and explore the role of life stressors,
protective factors (e.g., spirituality and neighborhood cohesion) and inflammation; 3)
To determine whether changes in the strength of the daily coupling of sleep and performance
on mobile cognitive assessments relate to racial differences in traditional clinical measures
of cognitive decline over 4 years, and to elucidate the potential mediational role of inflammation.
This approach is innovative because it will not only examine the association between
sleep and cognitive functioning over time, but will also examine the relationship of life
stressors, sleep, inflammatory biomarkers, and/or resilient factors on racial disparities in
cognitive decline. The proposed research is significant because of its potential to identify
psychosocial and contextual factors related to impaired sleep and cognition that could
serve as the basis for evidence-based behavioral or policy interventions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10216569
- **Project number:** 1UF1AG072619-01
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** Alyssa Ann Gamaldo
- **Activity code:** UF1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,342,015
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2023-08-21

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10216569

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10216569, Psychosocial and Neighborhood Mechanisms and Consequences of Black-White Sleep Disparities on Cognition (1UF1AG072619-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10216569. Licensed CC0.

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