We are excited to announce that funding for the Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project (VMAP) has been renewed with an $18.2 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging. The size and scope of this grant is a testament to the quality of the data provided by the original research cohort and the dedication of VMAP's investigators and collaborators.
VMAP has supported numerous training grants for early career scientists. Among the project’s higher profile findings to date:
- Older people who have suboptimal blood flow from their hearts also have blood flow reductions in the temporal lobe regions of the brain where Alzheimer’s pathology first begins;
- In brain MRIs in older adults, fluid-filled spaces around cerebral small vessels are associated with compromised cognitive abilities;
- Greater stiffness of the aorta, the body’s main artery from the heart, is associated with lower cerebral blood flow and may play a role in cognitive decline.
This grant renewal, along with a $4.4 million grant awarded to VMAP co-investigator Katherine Gifford, PsyD, will help VMAP expand and diversify the VMAP research cohort. If you are interested in participating in VMAP, please click here to learn more and join our participant registry.
You can read more about the VMAP grant renewal from VUMC Reporter and VUMC Discover.
