There is a unique confluence of researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) who are well-positioned to seek answers to the question of what conditions and interventions maintain or increase cognitive health with age. We propose to develop an Edward R. Roybal Center for Healthy Minds at UIUC that will have four primary goals. The first will be to organize a group of junior and senior investigators who will focus research efforts on this topic, studying social, cognitive, and physical (exercise) interventions, as well as combinations of these variables. A second goal will be to have a highly visible national Center on this topic and to make research on the topic of healthy minds a central focus at UIUC. A third goal will be to facilitate research on the topic, not only within UIUC, but to stimulate international networks of researchers to address this topic and share data through Center programs. A final goal will be to develop an ongoing set of recommendations of everyday behaviors that middle-aged and senior Americans may engage in to promote or maintain cognitive health and to disseminate these recommendations widely. Center researchers will focus efforts on six related hypotheses. There is existing expertise and some research on all of these hypotheses at UIUC. The hypotheses are: (1) Physical activity improves cognitive function; (2) Cognitive engagement and training supports a healthy mind; (3) Social engagement plays an important role in cognitive health; (4) Combinations of social/cognitive engagement may be particularly powerful in sustaining cognitive health in later adulthood; (5) Cultural context and stereotypes impact on cognitive health; and (6) Environmental supports promote and support healthy cognitive function in late adulthood.
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