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

> **NIH NIH UF1** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2022 · $169,400

## 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:** 10631547
- **Project number:** 3UF1AG072619-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** Alyssa Ann Gamaldo
- **Activity code:** UF1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $169,400
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2023-08-21

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10631547

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10631547, Psychosocial and Neighborhood Mechanisms and Consequences of Black-White Sleep Disparities on Cognition (3UF1AG072619-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10631547. Licensed CC0.

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