Many individuals experience cognitive decline as they age, yet there are remarkable individual differences in health, fitness, and cognition among older adults. Some older adults struggle to walk up a flights of stairs, whereas others walk a mile or more every day. Some adults may experience onset of memory difficulties in their sixties, while others exhibit excellent memory into their eighties and beyond. The purpose of our FASTER study is to examine how individual differences in health variables (muscle strength, blood pressure) and behavioral variables (sleep, physical activity) impact memory, attention, and the brain. We study these relationships among a variety of older adults, including those with a history of concussion, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The overall goal of this study is to identify variables that accelerate or protect against cognitive and brain aging.
We are recruiting adults with and without TBI to complete four to five appointments within about 30 days. The appointments include cognitive, mental health, and fitness assessments, as well as a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, a whole body DEXA scan (x-ray to assess body composition), and a blood draw. After this initial round of appointments, you will be asked to complete annual questionnaires and come back to the lab for follow-up testing every 1 to 5 years. By collecting this information in a variety of individuals as they age, we hope to identify early risk factors, as well as protective factors, for cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disease.
If you would like to see if you are eligible to participate, please fill out this short survey: https://redcap.link/l28po00v.