Search Abstracts | Symposia | Slide Sessions | Poster Sessions
Linguistic markers of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD): an analysis of funded research at the National Institute on Aging and opportunities to advance the field
Poster Session B, Friday, October 25, 10:00 - 11:30 am, Great Hall 3 and 4
Maryam Ghaleh1; 1National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Background: Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) are a substantial global health issue. No effective treatment currently exists to cure AD/ADRD after onset, therefore, early detection is crucial in optimizing the benefits of early interventions to delay or prevent the onset of AD/ADRD. AD pathology starts silently decades before the clinical symptoms appear, and thus AD biomarkers play an essential role in early detection and risk assessment. However, most AD/ADRD biomarkers are invasive and expensive. Moreover, access to biomarker testing is limited by the availability of specialized facilities and trained clinicians. Due to these limitations, disparities exist in the access to biomarker testing for racial/ethnic minorities, those with lower socioeconomic status (SES), and those living in under-resourced settings including low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where two-thirds of people with AD/ADRD currently live. To reduce health disparities in AD/ADRD, assessment and diagnostic tools are needed that are valid, affordable, and accessible for all populations globally. Changes in language performance have been shown to occur long before clinical diagnosis of AD/ADRD. Therefore, change in language function can potentially be used as an early biomarker of AD/ADRD, that is easily accessible, low-cost, and non-invasive. Yet, research on linguistic markers of AD/ADRD is limited, and has mainly been conducted in non‐Hispanic white cohorts from High-income countries. Furthermore, out of over 7000 languages that exist in the world, research so far has mainly focused on English-speaking populations totaling approximately 18% of the global population. Given the differences in languages and their neural representation, as well as population-specific neuropathological differences in AD/ADRD, differences might exist in AD/ADRD linguistic markers across different languages and populations. Findings from studies on white English-speaking populations might not be generalizable to other populations, which warrants a more focused global approach to the study of language markers of AD/ADRD in diverse populations. National Institute on Aging (NIA) supports the development of novel biomarkers for AD/ADRD and works to increase its support of research in minority and health disparate populations, to achieve health equity. The current analysis aims to characterize the existing portfolio of research grants focusing on language markers of AD/ADRD supported by the NIA to understand gaps and opportunities for scientific advancement. Methods and Results: Using the NIH Query, View, and Report (QVR) system, combined with Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) codes, we will identify research grants focused on language markers of AD/ADRD that are funded by the NIA from 2015 to 2024. Further analyses will be performed to understand which populations (e.g., race/ethnicity, regions) and languages were included in these studies and identify key resources that were used to support research in this area. Additional analysis will be performed to identify other resources and opportunities that could be leveraged to support research in this field. Conclusion: This analysis provides an overview of the landscape and resources used for AD/ADRD language biomarker research, as well as identifies gaps, and opportunities that can be used to accelerate the pace of research and discoveries in this area.
Topic Areas: Disorders: Acquired, Development of Resources, Software, Educational Materials, etc.