# Early life environment and later life dementia, cognition, neuropathology, and reserve

> **NIH NIH K01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $118,961

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Cognitive reserve refers to the ability to buffer against brain pathology, including types commonly found post-
mortem in the brains of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (e.g., amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary
tangles). I hypothesize that reserve is a key reason why some older adults have normal cognitive function
despite the presence of neuropathology. Recently, researchers have begun to empirically investigate reserve
as the discrepancy between neuropathology and brain function, as measured with cognitive tests. Studies
have found a relationship between a disadvantaged early life environment and later life clinical dementia,
including Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. However, it is not known if an advantaged early life is
related to greater later life reserve or lower levels of neuropathology itself. As brain development is particularly
accelerated through age 5 years, early life could be a sensitive period for cognitive reserve. I propose to use
four unique datasets that contain information on early life social environment, later life cognitive tests, and
autopsy-based neuropathology measures from geographically diverse study populations: the Adult Changes in
Thought Study, the Honolulu Asia Aging Study, the Religious Orders Study, and the Rush Memory and Aging
Project. I test the hypotheses that an advantaged early life environment, independently of and synergistically
with adult social advantage, is related to greater later life cognitive reserve, even in the presence of significant
neuropathology. I will be able to test also whether early life environment is related to actual levels of cognition
and neuropathology. My background in demography and epidemiology, including 3 years as a postdoctoral
fellow and 5 years as a junior faculty member, prepares me to lead these projects, under the guidance of a
team that reflects the leadership of the proposed studies and leading experts in neurological epidemiology,
neuropathology, cognitive measures, and the integration of social and life course epidemiology. The proposed
training and research experiences in this project will be integral in building a foundation in the analysis of
cognitive outcomes and resilience to dementia, and enhancing the experience of my existing skills in life
course and aging epidemiology that will allow me to lead future projects at the intersection of these fields.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10387136
- **Project number:** 3K01AG050723-06S1
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah Elizabeth Tom
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $118,961
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-09-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10387136

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10387136, Early life environment and later life dementia, cognition, neuropathology, and reserve (3K01AG050723-06S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10387136. Licensed CC0.

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