WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SOCIAL HEALTH
IN COGNITIVE DECLINE AND DEMENTIA?

Research issue

The rationale for the SHARED study has developed through the recognition of the discrepancy between neuropathology and symptoms in dementia. A phenomenon that is also linked to the concepts of brain reserve and cognitive reserve. Social Health aspects are likely to contribute to reserve capacities and might also be crucial in optimally maintaining the plasticity of the brain. Integrating the social context – both novel and underexplored – with comprehensive biological and clinical phenotyping may leverage better characterization of the dementia disease course and may reveal opportunities for effective interventions. Understanding the pathways underlying the bidirectional link between social health in dementia can contribute to better understanding of the discrepancy between neuropathology and symptoms.

Objectives

Objective 1: to map trajectories of social health across the journey from cognitively healthy to dementia
Objective 2: to unravel during the preclinical phase of dementia, the bidirectional link between social health and cognitive health, the underlying biological substrate and the factors impacting this link
Objective 3: to unravel during the phase of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and clinical dementia, the bidirectional link between social health and cognitive health, the underlying biological substrate and the factors impacting this link
Objective 4: to integrate the generated knowledge into a novel framework for prevention and intervention

Consortium

Coordination: Erasmus MC Rotterdam (Netherlands)

Partners: Radboud UMC (Netherlands), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), University of New South Wales (Australia), University College London (United Kingdom), University of Bremen (Germany), Wroclaw Medical University (Poland)