By Toma Battino
When it comes to developing Alzheimer’s, there are a number of known risk factors – but how about the air you breathe? Researchers at the University of Southern California have been awarded an $11.5 million grant by the National Institute of Aging to analyze how toxins in the air can accelerate the risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
This study includes researchers from USC, UC San Diego, Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Washington. Together, the universities will pool their expertise in psychology, neuroscience, environmental health sciences and gerontology in order to find a link between environmental factors and the development of Alzheimer’s.
“The aging brain is vulnerable to air pollution,” explains USC Professor Caleb Finch. “This new program of research will address the neglected role of environmental neurotoxins — in this case, small particles from cars and trucks which are commonly found in the urban areas where most older Americans live — in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and in interactions with Alzheimer’s risk genes.”
Co-principal investigator Jiu-Chiuan Chen, an associate professor of preventive medicine at USC, is excited by the prospect of discovering exactly why airborne traffic pollution increases the risk for dementia.
“The intersection of these projects has great potential to generate novel data of major clinical significance and public health impact,” Chen says.
Chen and Finch have an ambitious goal – to find a way to prevent the development of Alzheimer’s and other dementias by 2025.
If this project is a success, it will provide a much deeper understanding of how airborne toxins can accelerate cognitive decline.
Learn more: http://bit.ly/2LCrECZ
