# Using Resting State Functional MRI to Predict Cognitive Decline among World Trade Center Responders

> **NIH NIH R21** · STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK · 2021 · $249,831

## Abstract

Dementia is the fifth most common cause of disability and death with a lifetime risk of 40% in the
U.S. population. It is a costly disease, with estimates exceeding $236 billion annually, and is the
only top cause of death for which neither a prevention nor cure is available. Dementia is typically
preceded by milder forms of cognitive impairment (CI). Previous research by members of this
investigative team have found that CI is more common among World Trade Center responders,
relative to age-matched normative samples, approximating 12-14% in two separate studies.
Further, among a different sample of 99 WTC responders in the Stony Brook health monitoring
program (half of whom had CI) also studied by this team, reduced global mean cortical thickness
and thickness across 21/34 subregions was found among those with CI. While the etiology of CI
among WTC responders is unknown, preliminary data suggests that Alzheimer’s neuropathology
may be one major source, as reflected in specific cognitive domains impacted (e.g., memory),
as well as plasma biomarkers and atrophy of enthorhinal and temporal cortices. In addition to
structural neuroimaging data, resting state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) data have been acquired
among a sample of 99 WTC responders, approximately half of whom had CI at the time of
scanning (Time Ascan). Given recent findings on the significance of RS data as a stable set of
biomarkers for understanding disease risk, this proposal seeks first to leverage these existing
data for determining RS connectivity differences among those with and without CI, as well as
relationships with memory and processing speed. As a second aim, it will identify relationships
among metrics of RS-fMRI network connectivity and cognition four years following the initial scan
among 80 participants (Time Ascan®Time Bcog ). As an exploratory aim, it will characterize
changes in RS network connectivity among 25 participants with progressing cognitive decline
over four years and 25 with continued unimpaired cognition over four years by adding a RS-fMRI
scan four years following the initial scan (Time Bscan) during the two-year study period. These
results will inform a study that will aim to identify (with a larger sample) how and to what extent
RS fMRI metrics can be used for predicting cognitive change in WTC responders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10315069
- **Project number:** 1R21AG074707-01
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
- **Principal Investigator:** Sara L. Weisenbach
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $249,831
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10315069

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10315069, Using Resting State Functional MRI to Predict Cognitive Decline among World Trade Center Responders (1R21AG074707-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10315069. Licensed CC0.

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