Abstract
AbstractBackgroundThere is a “diversity” crisis in brain research, as most brain research is conducted in Caucasian populations. This lack of ethnic diversity means that we do not know if predictors of health (and disease) generalize to other ethnic groups.We have recently launched the India ENIGMA Initiative for Global Aging & Mental Health ‐ a globally coordinated study of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), funded by the NIA/NIH, USA. Our overall goal is to identify predictive markers in the blood, genome, and epigenome that influence brain aging in India, to better understand prognosis, and to support personalized risk evaluations on each continent. To do this, we will leverage our global consortium, ENIGMA (http://enigma.ini.usc.edu), creating new links between international biobanks, and building research capacity.MethodAim 1. Create Lifespan Charts of brain aging Trajectories in India using MRI, DWI and Resting State Functional MRI. Aim 2. Identify Blood and Epigenetic Markers that Predict Brain Aging and AD in India. Aim 3. Using a combination of multimodal imaging, blood markers, and clinical data to predict clinical decline in India. We test structural equation models that hypothesize how brain aging depends on lifestyle and psychosocial factors (diet, family support, drug abuse, literacy, sleep, and depression), as well as sex, education, and AD genetic risk.ResultWe test structural equation models that hypothesize how brain aging depends on lifestyle and psychosocial factors (diet, family support, drug abuse, literacy, sleep, and depression), as well as sex, education, and AD genetic risk. With novel machine learning methods, we will analyze blood markers and plasma proteomic analytes, to define processes that are harmful to brain aging.ConclusionThe data emerging from this study is expected to help in personalized risk evaluations as well as identify etiological pathways to resilience across genetically and psychosocially diverse populations. This collaborative India‐US initiative will also enable future science initiatives, and equip the team from India with the necessary tools to train new scientists and independently conduct high impact research in the field of disorders of brain aging.
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