Eleanor Hayes-Larson, assistant professor of gerontology, discusses how life-long psychological and social factors influence cognitive aging and dementia risk. Her work focuses on the impact of trauma, identifying factors that support resilience, and the importance of diversity in research.
Q: What’s the main focus of your research here at the USC Leonard Davis School?
A: My work focuses on how psychological and social factors throughout the life course shape cognitive aging and dementia risk. To reduce inequities in the burden of dementia, I am interested in understanding these relationships in diverse populations, including groups that are often underrepresented in research. I also have a line of work focused on epidemiologic methods to improve causal inference and generalizability of findings in dementia and cognitive aging research.
Q: What are some of the Alzheimer’s risk factors that you study?
A: I am interested in adverse experiences in childhood, such as household dysfunction or maltreatment, and exposure to traumatic and stressful experiences throughout life, like life-threatening accidents, interpersonal violence or serious illness of a loved one. These are common experiences in the U.S. and globally, and often disproportionately experienced by groups that also experience elevated burden of dementia. I am also interested in factors that may buffer against the impact of trauma and stress, like social support or physical activity. Dementia pathology likely begins decades before clinical symptoms, so understanding sources of risk and resilience starting in childhood and early adulthood, in addition to later-life exposures, is critical.
Q: Why is it important to know how trauma and other factors can affect cognitive decline?
A: Long term, understanding the impact of trauma and related factors on cognitive decline will help us understand the etiology of dementia and inform prevention approaches. In addition, identifying factors in late life that support resilience against the negative impact of earlier trauma and stress on cognition may be helpful for identifying strategies to preserve cognition in older populations who have lived through such experiences. For example, I am interested in whether social support or financial stability in late life might be important sources of resilience.
Q: What are some of the next big questions coming up in epidemiological research on Alzheimer’s?
A: New biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration are being developed all the time, and figuring out how to best incorporate them into population research is important for connecting psychosocial exposures to changes in the brain that lead to dementia. In addition, recruitment of samples with greater diversity is important for ensuring that results of studies, including potential advances in treatments, can help all older adults live healthier lives.
