Cardiovascular health, psychosocial health, and healthy brain aging: from observation to intervention

The research group has focused on the complex relationships of lifelong cardiovascular health, psychosocial health, and genetic susceptibility with brain aging, physical function, cognitive health, and transmission of cognitive states in old age. Special attention is given to translational research that aims to identify effective interventions to achieve a longer and healthier life.

Specifically, our research group focuses on the following research areas:

  • Epidemiology of aging and dementia (e.g., distribution, time trends, and determinants of health in aging and dementia); 
  • Lifelong cardiovascular health, psychosocial health, genetic susceptibility in relation to brain aging, physical function, cognitive health, and transmission of cognitive states in old age; 
  • Vascular mechanisms of brain aging and cognitive dysfunction (e.g., neuroimaging, blood, and retinal biomarkers for brain lesions); and 
  • Intervention strategies for healthy aging, healthy brain aging, and risk reduction of dementia and functional disability. 

Our research is based on several large-scale population-based observational and interventional studies such as the Kungsholmen Project, the Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), the Finnish Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE), the Icelandic Age, Gene/Environment (AGES)-Reykjavik Study, and the Multimodal Interventions to Delay Dementia and Disability in Rural China (MIND-China). Our research has involved extensive national and international collaboration.

Group members

Affiliated to research

Ongoing projects

MIND-China: The Multimodal Interventions to Delay Dementia and Disability in Rural China

Principal investigators

  • Chengxuan Qiu, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Division of Aging Research Center (ARC)
  • Yifeng Du, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University

MIND‐China is a joint research project between the Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet and Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, conducted by the Department of Neurology at Shandong Provincial Hospital. MIND-China is aimed primarily at testing whether vascular and multimodal intervention programs are effective in maintaining cognitive and physical functioning in older adults. Thus, MIND‐China is designed as a three-arm cluster-randomized controlled intervention study: (1) The control group receives standard health care provided by local town hospital; (2) The vascular intervention group receives health education, and monitoring and treatment of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia; and (3) The multimodal intervention group receives vascular interventions plus non‐pharmacological multidomain interventions (lifestyle guidance, group exercise, promotion of personalized leisure activities, and cognitive training). In March-October 2018, 5765 local residents who were aged 60+ years undertook multidisciplinary baseline assessments, of these, around 3000 participants who were aged 60-79 years and free of dementia and functional disability were enrolled into multimodal interventions.

In MIND-China, multidisciplinary assessments at baseline included in-person interviews, clinical and neurological examinations, neuropsychological tests, laboratory test (e.g., blood biochemical analysis, genetic analysis, and peripheral biomarkers), multimodal brain MRI scans, olfactory test, auditorial examination, cardiopulmonary coupling analysis, and actigraph examination. MIND-China database can be linked with medical records from annual health check-ups. Thus, MIND‐China provides rich data resources that could be used to address a range of scientific questions related to health in aging, brain aging, cognitive aging, and functional dependence in rural residents.

MIND-China is one of the five founding projects for the World-Wide FINGERS Network, the first global network of multidomain intervention trials for dementia risk reduction and prevention that was launched during the 2017 Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in London (see related links).

MIND-CHINA is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China and by additional grants from the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for the Sino-Sweden joint research project and Alzheimer’s Association.

Duration

MIND-China is an ongoing project.

Related links

World-Wide FINGERS network
The World Wide FINGERS (WW-FINGERS) - Global collaboration for future generations

Chronic hypoxia as a common pathway linking clinical conditions of the heart, lungs, and blood with accelerated brain aging

Principal investigator

Chengxuan Qiu, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Division of Aging Research Center (ARC)

The ultimate goal of this project is to improve our understanding of chronic conditions of the heart, lungs, and blood (e.g., heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and anemia) in relation to accelerated brain lesions, cognitive decline, and dementia. We hypothesize that chronic cerebral hypoxia is a common pathway linking these chronic conditions with accelerated pathological brain aging and cognitive deterioration in aging. To achieve the goal, we plan to carry out four subprojects among older adults aiming to illustrate: (1) The heart-brain-mind connection in aging; (2) The lung-brain aging relationship; (3) The blood-brain health relationship; and (4) The load of chronic hypoxia-brain health relationship.

This proposal uses data from two existing longitudinal datasets, where epidemiological, clinical, and cognitive data are integrated with brain MRI and blood biomarkers of brain lesions: The Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K) and the embedded SNAC-K MRI study (2001-2019) and the Icelandic AGES-Reykjavik Study (2002-2015).

The project will be implemented by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in epidemiology, neurology, geriatrics, cardiology, psychology, neuroimaging, and biostatistics. Findings from this project will facilitate the development of preventive and therapeutic interventions to delay age-related cognitive decline and dementia.

This project is funded by a grant from the Swedish Research Council (VR).

Duration

2021-2025

Reducing the global burden of dementia via strengthening translational research across sociocultural settings

Principal investigators

  • Chengxuan Qiu, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Division of Aging Research Center (ARC)
  • Yifeng Du, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University

This is a Sweden-China joint mobility program between the Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet and Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University. 

The multifactorial nature of dementia indicates the potential of multidomain interventions for risk reduction. A global network of translational research is critical for reducing risk and delaying onset of dementia in populations with diverse ethnic and sociocultural backgrounds. The overall goal of the program is to foster translational research on multimodal preventive interventions across ethnic and sociocultural groups through the existing global network for dementia risk reduction and prevention (World-Wide FINGERS Network Initiative). The specifical aims are (1) to organize workshops focusing on methodological harmonization of global multidomain dementia interventions and socioculturally sensitive intervention approaches and (2) to train the new generation of researchers specialized in research of aging, health, and dementia by implementing a research project that aims to adapt, test, and optimize the FINGER-intervention model to reduce risk of the entire spectrum of cognitive aging from asymptomatic states to prodromal stages in different ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic settings. This proposal will further strengthen existing Sino-Sweden network for collaboration in the areas of aging, health, and dementia. 

The project is supported by joint grants from the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT)/the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

Duration

2020-2025

FINGER-Pro: Evidence-based health promotion interventions for healthy aging: adapting and implementing the FINGER multidomain model across different settings and sociocultural contexts

Principal investigators

Miia Kivipelto, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Division of Clinical Geriatrics

Participating researchers

Chengxuan Qiu, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Division of Aging Research Center (ARC), et al.

This is a consortium program among several research institutions and hospitals led by Karolinska Institutet, and researchers from the Aging Research Center play a crucial role in the program. 

Maintaining cognitive and functional ability into late life is a lifelong process. Health promotion and early intervention are vital components of public health efforts to achieve healthy aging. The FINGER-like intervention model integrates five healthy behavioral domains has shown to benefit not only cognitive function in older adults at-risk for dementia, but also physical function, cardiovascular health, and quality of life. However, questions remain to be answered: are findings from FINGER trial generalizable to different settings in the Swedish context (e.g., memory clinic, primary care, and municipality)? Can FINGER-model contribute to additional aspects central for healthy aging? How can the FINGER-model be adapted and implemented across socioeconomically diverse populations? Thus, the aim of this program is to address these key questions by adapting and implementing the FINGER-like model in different settings and sociocultural contexts.

Six interrelated work packages will be implemented within the consortium program: a) Adapting and implementing the FINGER-like model across different settings in Swedish society; b) Testing the FINGER-model for healthy aging; c) Refining the FINGER-model with novel risk factors and sex differences in the response to lifestyle interventions; d) Adapting and implementing the FINGER-model in sociocultural contexts; e) Health economic assessment, payment models, and sustainment; and f) Knowledge dissemination, implementation of findings and public involvement. We use data from the existing FINGER and World-Wide FINGERS Network (e.g., MIND-AD and MIND-China); ongoing FINGER-based implementation studies at specialist, primary care, and municipality; and carrying out pilot studies to capture younger people and family caregivers.  

This program will generate knowledge concerning tailored intervention programs at individual and population levels for living a longer and healthier life across settings and sociocultural contexts, which is critical for the development of health policies for achieving healthy aging and equal health care.  

This program is supported by the major program grant from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte).

Duration

2023-2030

Research support

  • Swedish Research Council
  • Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare
  • Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT)

Collaborations

We collaborate with a number of researchers within Karolinska Institutet and around the world.

  • The MIND-China Project: Prof Yifeng Du, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China.  
  • Sino-Sweden Network for Aging Research: Prof Juan Li, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. 
  • The Confucius Hometown Aging Project: Prof Zhongrui Yan, Jining People’s Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jining, China; Dr Rui She, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 
  • The AGES-Reykjavik Study: Dr Lenore J. Launer, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Maryland, USA. 
  • The World-Wide FINGERS Network Initiative. Prof Miia Kivipelto, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Dr Maria Carrillo, Alzheimer’s Association, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • The 21st Century Eurodem Project. Prof Carol Brayne, University of Cambridge, Cambridge; Prof Edo Richard, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Prediction and risk reduction of dementia: Prof Kaarin J Anstey, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Dissertations