Impact of the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial on cortical and hippocampal volumes

Abstract

Background There is substantial interest in identifying interventions that can protect and buffer older adults from atrophy in the cortex and particularly, the hippocampus, a region important to memory. We report the two-year effects of a randomized-controlled trial of an intergenerational social health promotion program on older men's and women's brain volumes. Methods The Brain Health Study simultaneously enrolled, evaluated and randomized 111 men and women (58 intervention; 53 control) within the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial to evaluate intervention impact on biomarkers of brain health at baseline and annual follow-ups during the two-year trial exposure. Results Intention-to-treat analyses on cortical and hippocampal volumes for full and sex-stratified samples revealed program-specific increases in volumes that reached significance in men only (p's≤0.04). Whereas men in the control arm exhibited age-related declines over two years, men in the Experience Corps arm showed a 0.7-1.6% increase in brain volumes. Women also exhibited modest intervention-specific gains of 0.3-0.54% by the second year of exposure that contrasted with declines of about 1% among women in the control group. Conclusions These findings showed that purposeful activity embedded within a social health promotion program halted and, in men, reversed declines in brain volume in regions vulnerable to dementia.

Associations of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-1 and Angiotensin II Blood Levels and Cognitive Function

“…Participants were recruited from the Brain Health Study (BHS) [18, 19], a substudy within the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial (BECT), following the completion of the trial. The BECT was a sex-stratified, randomized, controlled effectiveness trial to evaluate the health benefits for older adults participating in a high-intensity volunteer service program vs. a control group offered low-intensity volunteer opportunities [20].…”

“…The BECT was a sex-stratified, randomized, controlled effectiveness trial to evaluate the health benefits for older adults participating in a high-intensity volunteer service program vs. a control group offered low-intensity volunteer opportunities [20]. BECT [21, 22] and BHS results have been published previously [19]. Enrollment criteria have also been described previously [18, 19].…”

Building upon the CALLA Framework: The Intersection of Novel Problem Solving and Applied Wisdom

“…The two most widely adopted models of wisdom are Sternberg's [1998] balance theory of wisdom and the Berlin wisdom paradigm [Baltes & Staudinger, 2000], defining wisdom as (a) applying practical intellect and tacit knowledge (holistic usage of knowledge, skills, and ideas) towards problem solving for the common good [Sternberg, 1998] and (b) applying expertise in the fundamental pragmatics of life, expertise meaning in factual knowledge about life matters, procedural knowledge to make decisions and resolve conflict, knowledge about life themes and contexts, knowledge about differences in goals and values, and understanding limits of own self-knowledge to deal with uncertainty [Baltes & Staudinger, 2000]. Although aging does not ensure that someone will apply wisdom effectively, interventions that hone the use of older adults' past experiences, knowledge, and skills that map onto relevant skills and knowledge improve the chance for them to earnestly participate and continue in cognitive engagement interventions [e.g., Carlson et al, 2008Carlson et al, , 2009Carlson et al, , 2015Parisi et al, 2009;Rebok et al, 2011].…”

The association between functional connectivity and cognition in older adults

“…Details about EC and study participants are included elsewhere [17]. Eligibility criteria required at least a 6 th grade reading level, and a score on the MiniMental State Exam greater than 23, indicating normal cognition [18].…”

“…We investigated the cross-sectional association between brain network connectivity and domains of cognition among aging adults in the Brain Health Study (BHS), an imaging study nested within the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial (BECT) [15][16][17]. BHS participants were healthy community-dwelling older adults at elevated sociodemographic risk for dementia.…”