University of Florida
Clinical and Health Psychology
Ms. Priscilla A. Amofa-Ho., M.A., M.S., completed her undergraduate degree at Carleton College with a major in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. After a one-year service with the AmeriCorps VISTA program upon graduating undergraduate, Priscilla took a clinical research coordinator position at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Rush University Medical Center (RADC), Chicago. In this position, she obtained and examined biological samples in quest of identifying biomarkers for various Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (ADRDs), as well as enrolled and administered neurocognitive assessments to diverse research participants in different clinical trials aimed at preventing or reducing further cognitive decline. At the RADC, Priscilla worked under the mentorship of Drs. Robert Wilson, PhD; Lisa Barnes,PhD; Neelum Aggarwal, MD; Debra Fleischman, PhD; Raj Shah, MD; and Melissa Lamar, PhD. During her time at Rush, she also completed her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Roosevelt University, with a one-year internship at an in-patient psychiatric ward at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago under the mentorship of Dr. Sandra Swantek, DO. Priscilla entered the Clinical and Health Psychology program at the University of Florida in the fall of 2018, with a major area of study in Clinical Neuropsychology under the mentorship of Drs. Glenn Smith, PhD and Shellie-Anne Levy, PhD. Under their mentorship, she was selected as an NIH ADRD T32 fellow engaging in advanced training and coursework in ADRD research and had the opportunity to join experts in finding biomarkers and interventions related to ADRD. Priscilla’s research and clinical interests are in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), ADRDs, implementation of behavioral interventions to prevent or delay cognitive impairment, cross-cultural translation of assessment measures, and adaptation of behavioral interventions for underserved populations. Specifically, she is interested in identifying biomarkers and risk factors that predict cognitive decline in older adults and employing lifestyle modifications to mitigate cognitive decline.

Presenter of 1 Presentation

THE MEDIATING ROLES OF NEURO-BIOMARKERS IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND LATER-LIFE COGNITION.

Session Type
SYMPOSIUM
Date
Thu, 17.03.2022
Session Time
05:15 PM - 06:45 PM
Room
ONSITE: 131-132
Lecture Time
05:45 PM - 06:00 PM

Abstract

Aims

Background: Increased education has been associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). The role of neuropathies and neurovascular damage in the education-cognition relationship are poorly understood and may differ by sex.

Objective: To determine: 1) whether ADRD biomarkers mediate the relationship between education and cognitive function and 2) whether these mediating relationships differ by sex.

Methods

Methods: Participants included 537 adults (ages 55-94 years, mean=73) from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative - 3 (ADNI 3) with complete data on education (years), cognition (episodic memory (EM), executive functioning (EF), language (LANG) composites), and neuroimaging. Neuroimaging mediators included hippocampal (HV), cortical grey matter (CGMV), and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes and meta-temporal tau PET standard uptake value ratio. We performed causal mediation analyses with education as the exposure, HV, CGMV, WMH, and meta-temporal tau as separate mediating factors, and each cognitive domain score as separate outcomes, adjusting for age, race, sex, cardiovascular history, BMI, depression, and APOE4 status. Secondary analyses analyzed sex-stratified mediation models.

Results

Results: Across domains, HV mediated the largest percent of the relationship between education and cognition (EM: 15.7%, EF: 14.5%, LANG: 11.4%) compared to CGMV, WMH, and tau PET. In sex-stratified models, HV mediated education’s associations with EM and EF among women (EM: 20.2%, p=0.03; EF: 19.8%, p=0.05) but not men.

Conclusions

Conclusions: HV mediated the largest percent of the relationship between education and cognition. The neurobiological mechanisms (e.g., hippocampal and chronic vascular risk pathways) through which education impacts later-life cognition may vary between men and women.

Hide