# DEVELOPING A NATURALISTIC PARADIGM FOR EARLY DETECTION OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

> **NIH NIH K01** · TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $123,530

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Early detection of cognitive decline in older adults (OA) is a public health priority. The pathology of Alzheimer's
disease (AD) begins more than 20 years before memory loss develops, but dementia diagnoses often occur
late in the process of cognitive decline. AD is a progressive disease and early detection of cognitive decline
may slow disease progression by providing appropriate treatments earlier. There is growing evidence to
suggest the possibility that depression in OA is a risk factor for cognitive decline and AD, potentially acting
through perceived stress. However, it remains unknown whether depression in OA is a prodrome, a cause, or a
consequence of cognitive decline. Moreover, we often rely on cognitive assessments in the lab, and could
instead leverage real-world behaviors to detect early shifts in cognition. This study seeks to fill this knowledge
gap through three aims: (Aim 1) identification of cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between
cognitive performance, perceived stress, and psychiatric symptoms in an existing sample from the Indiana
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center; (Aim 2) development of natural language processing algorithms to
detect and quantify risk factors for depression in midlife and OA; and (Aim 3) ecological momentary
assessment of the daily cognitive functioning, emotions, and stress in OA, using validated mobile cognitive
tasks. Completion of these aims will provide a test of the relationship between cognitive aging and depression
in OA using a multimodal approach. Dr. Rutter's overarching K01 career development goal is to develop a
naturalistic paradigm for early detection of cognitive decline. Aim 1 will define the theoretical framework for this
paradigm; Aims 2 and 3 then apply this framework to real-world stimuli to determine whether these provide
more sensitive measures of detecting cognitive decline. The integrated training and research plans proposed
here will provide Dr. Rutter with advanced training in several critical areas needed to position here as an expert
on aging. The mentorship and guidance from her team of national leaders will allow Dr. Rutter to achieve
targeted training in the following domains: (1) cognitive aging, AD, depression and wellbeing in OA, and
technology use in OA (Krendl & Holden), (2) natural language processing approaches to understanding risk
factors for depression in midlife and OA (Bollen), (3) implementation of ecological momentary assessment and
analysis of intensive longitudinal cognitive data in OA (Finn & Germine), and (4) career development skills in
grantsmanship, leadership, and research (Krendl, Holden, & Hawkins). These training objectives will be
achieved through a combination of coursework, conferences, workshops, directed readings, mentorship
meetings, and completion of the primary K01 study. Indiana University Bloomington provides an outstanding
environment for these training and research objectives. This K01 award will p...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10865406
- **Project number:** 1K01AG086598-01
- **Recipient organization:** TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauren Rutter
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $123,530
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10865406

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10865406, DEVELOPING A NATURALISTIC PARADIGM FOR EARLY DETECTION OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (1K01AG086598-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10865406. Licensed CC0.

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