CORTICAL INHIBITION AND MOBILITY IN OLDER ADULTS - NEARLY 25% OF AMERICANS AGE 65+ REPORT SERIOUS MOBILITY…

Assistance award details

Assistance award identifier

ASST_NON_K00AG068440_075

FAIN

K00AG068440

Recipient

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Awarding agency

Department of Health and Human Services

Funding agency

Department of Health and Human Services

Assistance listing (CFDA)

93.866

Total obligated

$171,969

Period

Sep 2, 2020 – Dec 31, 2025

Fiscal year

2022

Place of performance state

MD

Source file

FY2022_All_Assistance_Full_20261006.zip

Description

CORTICAL INHIBITION AND MOBILITY IN OLDER ADULTS - NEARLY 25% OF AMERICANS AGE 65+ REPORT SERIOUS MOBILITY PROBLEMS. MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS DECREASE QUALITY OF LIFE AND PREDICT INCREASED RISK OF FALLS, DISABILITY, AND MORTALITY. HOWEVER, THE CONTRIBUTION OF AGE-RELATED BRAIN CHANGES TO MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. F99 WORK WILL EXAMINE HOW CORTICAL INHIBITORY FUNCTION RELATES TO GAIT AND BALANCE DECLINES WITH AGING. K00 WORK WILL EXAMINE THE SAME QUESTIONS IN MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (MCI) AND TEST EXERCISE AS AN INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE CORTICAL INHIBITORY FUNCTION. THE SPONSOR'S (DR. RACHAEL SEIDLER) PAST WORK SUPPORTS THE NOVEL HYPOTHESIS THAT DECLINES IN CORTICAL INHIBITORY PROCESSES AT LEAST PARTIALLY UNDERLIE MOTOR IMPAIRMENTS WITH AGING. FOR AIM 1 (F99), THE CANDIDATE IS COLLECTING TWO MEASURES OF LOWER LIMB CORTICAL INHIBITION IN 30 YOUNG AND 30 OLDER ADULTS: 1) GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID (GABA)-EDITED MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY (MRS) AND 2) TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION-INDUCED CORTICAL SILENT PERIOD. GABA-EDITED MRS PROVIDES A MEASURE OF GABA NEUROTRANSMITTER CONCENTRATION, WHILE CORTICAL SILENT PERIODS PROVIDE A MEASURE OF FUNCTIONAL CORTICAL INHIBITION DURING MUSCLE ACTIVITY. THE F99 WORK ADDRESSES WHETHER THESE TWO MEASURES OF CORTICAL INHIBITION ARE REDUCED IN OLDER AGE (AIM 1A) AND WHETHER CORTICAL INHIBITION RELATES TO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN GAIT (AIM 1B) AND BALANCE (AIM 1C). MOBILITY IS OFTEN MORE IMPAIRED IN MCI THAN IN HEALTHY AGING. MOTOR SYMPTOMS TYPICALLY ARISE MUCH EARLIER THAN COGNITIVE SYMPTOMS, AND PRESENCE OF MOTOR SYMPTOMS RELATES TO HIGHER RISK OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. PAST WORK SUGGESTS THAT CORTICAL INHIBITORY FUNCTION IS IMPAIRED IN MCI AND DEMENTIA, SUPPORTING THAT CHANGES IN CORTICAL INHIBITION COULD BE A COMPONENT OF MCI. THUS, FOR AIM 2 (K00), THE CANDIDATE WILL WORK WITH DR. KIRK ERICKSON TO TEST WHETHER CORTICAL INHIBITION IS REDUCED IN MCI COMPARED TO HEALTHY AGING (AIM 2A) AND IF CORTICAL INHIBITION RE