Why does dementia affect some populations more than others? Life experiences, chronic stressors and lack of health equity may be key to understanding, neuroscientist Indira Turney said during a Voices of Discovery lecture Monday.
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Genetics play a role in whether we develop Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia, but the sum of our life experiences may have more influence on how our brains age, cognitive neuroscientist Indira Turney said during Monday’s lecture as part of the 2022-23 Elon University Speaker Series, “Living Well in a Changing World.”
Those experiences — chronic stressors, levels of income, access to healthy diets and activity — look different across demographics and may account for why Black Americans are more likely to develop dementia than their White, Hispanic or Asian American counterparts.
“A lot of the reasons people develop dementia are things we can change,” said Turney, an associate research scientist at Columbia University Medical Center. “African Americans have the highest rates of dementia across age groups, as early as 65. Asian Americans have the lowest mean, and White Americans are in the middle. The goal is for everyone to reach the Asian American rate as shown in the research, which would be health equity. To do that, we must first accurately identify the disparities, show they exist and what’s driving them.”
Turney’s presentation, “Weathering and Patterns of Brain Aging by Race and Ethnicity,” outlined data and results from her research involving seniors and their children in New York City neighborhoods. Her appearance in McCrary Theatre was also part of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences’ Voices of Discovery speaker series.
Turney’s expertise is in studying Alzheimer’s disease, dementia…
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