# Microbiome profiles, sleep, and cognition among mid-life Latinx adults

> **NIH NIH U54** · FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $442,259

## Abstract

FIU-RCMI Research Project #2
 Project Summary
Emerging evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship between sleep disturbance and alterations in the gut
microbiome. This study aims to examine the effect of sleep health and dysfunction in influencing cognition
while accounting for the role of the gut microbiome in a community-based Latinx sample. Despite its
importance, studies exploring the effect of sleep on the gut microbiome, and the subsequent effect on the
cognition of humans are extremely limited. Of the preliminary investigations that do exist, none have been
conducted with Latinx community-living samples. While Latinx samples were the focus of two gut microbiome
studies, which provided preliminary evidence for the unique gut microbiome of this population, our
proposed study is innovative in that it includes cognitive measures, cortisol sampling, and objective measures
of sleep. Guided by the National Institutes of Minority Health and Health Disparities Framework, we will also
explore sociocultural factors at various levels of influence that may impact sleep, cognition, and the gut
microbiome. There is an urgent need for studies of this kind given that the gut microbiome may have a direct
effect on cognition and sleep, positioning it as a modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline. Sleep disturbance,
a modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline, including Alzheimer's disease, is bidirectionally-related to the gut
microbiome, variations in sleep patterns affect the structure and diversity of the gut microbiome, and the gut
microbiome is influential in circadian cycles and hormones related to sleep and waking. Investigations
examining the microbiota-gut-brain axis are essential in community-based samples to identify modifiable risk
factors for cognitive decline and inform novel interventions. We will recruit 150 Latinx midlife adults through
staggered recruitment and leveraging our existing resources: for a total of 450 observations. Each participant
will be administered a battery of neurocognitive and sleep assessments and will provide objective sleep data
through a wrist-worn actigraphy device, 3 saliva samples in one day to assess salivary cortisol, and a stool
sample to examine the gut microbiome through whole-genome shotgun sequencing. Using this data, we will
examine four aims: Aim 1. Using integrated microbiome analyses, we will examine correlations between gut
microbiome profiles, and measures of cognition. Aim 2. We will examine the bivariate relationship between
sleep and gut microbiome profiles. Aim 3a: We will examine the relation between sleep and measures of
cognition. Aim 3b: We will examine the interconnections between gut microbiome profiles, measures of
cognition, and sleep using two mediation models. Aim 4: We will examine the interrelations between gut
microbiome profiles, stress (salivary cortisol), measures of cognition, and sleep. Using an integrated analysis
of the gut microbiome, cognition, stress through saliv...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10556510
- **Project number:** 2U54MD012393-06
- **Recipient organization:** FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Shanna L Burke
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $442,259
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2017-09-20 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10556510

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10556510, Microbiome profiles, sleep, and cognition among mid-life Latinx adults (2U54MD012393-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10556510. Licensed CC0.

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