Cognability Across Adulthood: Neighborhoods and Cognitive Health Behaviors
Grace Savard, Desiree Alvarez-McNelis, Mallory Sagehorn, Grace Bowman, Yue Sun, Michael Esposito, Jessica Finlay

TL;DR
This study explores how neighborhood features support cognitive health across adulthood, identifying key sites like parks and libraries that promote lifelong brain health.
Contribution
The paper extends the Cognability framework to a life course perspective and identifies ten neighborhood sites linked to cognitive health behaviors.
Findings
Ten neighborhood sites were identified as supporting cognitive health behaviors, including parks, libraries, and recreation centers.
Diverse perspectives were captured from adults across socioeconomic, racial, and age groups on neighborhood amenities and hazards.
The findings suggest that community-level interventions can create equitable neighborhoods to support cognitive health.
Abstract
While geographic variation in Alzheimer’s Disease rates suggests that environmental factors are important in the development of dementia, understanding of specific local contextual features that impact dementia risk across the life course is limited. This paper extends Cognability, a theoretical framework that conceptualizes how supportive a geographical area is for cognitive health through social and behavioral pathways, to a life course perspective. The Neighborhoods and Health at All Ages Study employed seated and mobile interviews (August 2023-March 2024) across the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) metropolitan area. Participants were on average 42 years old (range: 23-75). About half (53%) identified as female, 40% male, and 7% non-binary; 22% identified as Hispanic, 22% Asian, 18% non-Hispanic White, 17% Multiracial, 15% Black/African American, 3% American Indian/Alaska Native, and 3%…
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Taxonomy
TopicsDementia and Cognitive Impairment Research · Older Adults Driving Studies · Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes
