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A National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant will allow Penn State's Martin Sliwinski and team to learn more about how to change the world in the United States.
This type of research can be of great value to those who are critically important for their development.
"Using these new technologies, we will be able to obtain high-precision data on the mental and cognitive function of research participants in the context of their everyday lives," said Martin Sliwinski, Gregory H. Wolf Professor of Aging Studies and Lead investigator on the project. "This allows us to gather data as they go on their lives, which goes beyond what we can already do in a lab."
For example, study participants could open the smartphone app, enter information about their stress levels, and then play a brain game, allowing researchers to measure their cognition and study how stress affects brain function. This is the place for people to go to the clinic, which can be costly.
"If you need 1,000 participants for a study, it gets very fast very quickly," Sliwinski said. "So by using this new infrastructure to make the world a smartphone, we can overcome these limitations and make it affordable to do well-powered, strong biomedical science focused on cognitive and brain health."
Sliwinski said that while they are using mobile technologies to gather data for their studies, there is no Sage Bionetworks to build this infrastructure. Lara Mangravite, a Penn State alumna, is president of Sage Bionetworks.
"We will be designing a suite of tools that are ready for their research, with no programming or technical knowledge needed on their part," Sliwinski said. "But it will also be a code that can be made to work in a way that makes it easier for us to make it work.
Neil Sharkey, vice president for research at Penn State, said the work will help set the standard for mobile cognitive health research.
"This innovative work by Dr. Sliwinski and his team is critical for the next generation of early intervention and prevention efforts to slow or prevent cognitive decline," said Sharkey. "This recognition from the NIH demonstrates the utmost confidence in our institution, and this work holds the promise of a unique new way to collect data."
Kathryn Drager, interim dean and badociate dean of research and graduate education in the College of Health and Human Development, stressed the relevance and importance of the work in Pennsylvania, which has the second highest percentage of residents 65 or older in the nation.
"Aging is an issue that impacts us, so we can better understand the effects of everyday occurrences on our health," Drager said. "By committing to this line of research, we continue to be in the forefront of our efforts."
Sliwinski is also the director of the Penn State's Center for Healthy Aging, which focuses on adult development, from early adulthood to older years. Two of the center's other researchers, Lesley Ross and Chad Shenk, have also recently received grants.
Ross received two NIH grants to develop and validate cognitive training programs that promote independence and healthy brain aging in seniors. Shenk Receptions of the Evidence of Adverse Childhood Experiences of Accelerated Elderly Patients in the United States of America
Penn State faculty from five departments will join the mobile cognitive health team: Scott Yabiku, professor of sociology and demography; Vernon Chinchilli, distinguished professor and chair of public health sciences; Joshua Rosenberger, Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health; Joshua Smyth, distinguished professor of biobehavioral health and medicine; Lesley Ross, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies; Zita Oravecz, badistant professor of human development and family studies, and Jonathon Hakun, badistant teaching professor of psychology.
The team also includes researchers from Mclean Hospital, Washington University in St. Louis, Oregon Health Sciences University, the University of Victoria, scientists from the National Institutes of Health, and Sage Bionetworks.
Provided by Pennsylvania State University
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