# Cognitive and Emotional Resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease

> **NIH NIH R01** · ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $241,129

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affects older adults, not only because they are at
increased risk for severe illness from SARS-CoV-2 infection, but also because they have to
socially distance more strictly to keep themselves safe. Age is a well-known risk factor for
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias; however, both COVID-19 infection and lack of social
support may further increase the risk for cognitive decline and accelerate the onset of Alzheimer’s
disease in already vulnerable older adults. Although many studies focus on risk factors for
Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline, few explore resilience. This supplement will examine
cognitive and emotional resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic, as a function of genetic and social
factors, among older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The LonGenity
study at Einstein is composed of a unique longitudinal cohort of older adults who have been
followed with annual neurocognitive testing for a median of 9 years and who are genetically
enriched for resilience to Alzheimer’s disease because half of them are offspring of centenarians.
We propose to test the hypothesis that cognitive and emotional resilience to the stress of
social distancing and to SARS-CoV-2 infection will be observed in older adults who are
genetically resilient to Alzheimer’s disease and who have robust social support. We will
apply epidemiologic and genetic approaches to: (1) Determine the effect of genetic and social
factors on cognitive and emotional resilience in older adults subjected to the social distancing
requirement; and (2) Determine the effect of genetic and social factors on resilience to Alzheimer’s
disease and related dementias and cognitive decline post COVID-19 infection in older adults.
Genetic factors that will be considered include parental history of longevity and attenuated
function of the somatotropic pathway as measured by the genetic somatotropic score, as both
parental longevity and reduced somatotropic signaling have been associated with resilience to
Alzheimer’s disease and are evaluated in the parent grant. Social contributors include social
support and network measures prior to and during the period of the pandemic. Questionnaire and
antibody test for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus will identify LonGenity subjects who contracted
SARS-CoV-2 infection. We will continue to follow the LonGenity participants with annual
neurocognitive testing as described in the parent grant to determine the long-term impact of social
distancing and COVID-19 on cognitive decline and resilience to Alzheimer’s disease and related
dementias in this group. In addition, in a subgroup of individuals, we will conduct neurocognitive
testing during the social distancing period to evaluate the acute impact of social distancing on
cognitive function and emotional health. The proposal has the potential to determine whether
inherited resilience factors, such as parental longevity or favorabl...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10293791
- **Project number:** 3R01AG061155-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Sofiya Milman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $241,129
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-04-15 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10293791

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10293791, Cognitive and Emotional Resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease (3R01AG061155-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10293791. Licensed CC0.

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