Investigating Determinants of Risk for Cognitive Decline

Investigating Graduate Student: Maddie Gregory

Maddie Gregory is currently working on a patient-oriented research project as part of a Graduate Fellowship in conjunction with the BC SUPPORT unit and Island Health. Broadly, the project involves investigating the genetic, psychological and social determinants of risk for cognitive decline. 

Status: in-progress

Personality Traits as Predictors of Domain-Specific Cognitive Decline

Investigating Graduate Student: Morgan Schaeffer

The purpose of this study is to examine Big-5 personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) as predictors of cognitive decline. Specifically, this project aims to determine the association between personality traits and the onset of specific dementia and pre-dementia syndromes (e.g., Alzheimer’s dementia, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Subjective Cognitive Decline). A secondary aim of this study is to determine which personality traits predict declines in memory vs. declines in other cognitive domains (e.g., executive functions, language, etc.). Because personality traits are generally stable over the lifespan, they may be used to identify risk during early and middle adulthood (before symptoms of dementia-related cognitive decline typically manifest). The Data for this study will be obtained from the Einstein Aging Study (EAS) database, a large-scale population-based cohort study based in the United States.

Status: in-progress