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Examining Cognitive Decline Across Black and White Participants in the Harvard Aging Brain Study
Amariglio RE, Buckley RF, Rabin JS, Papp KV, Quiroz YT, Mormino EC, Sparks KP, Johnson KA et al.. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2020-01-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Black Americans are approximately twice as likely to develop dementia as compared to White Americans and the magnitude of this disparity is often attributed to a variety of factors that include psychosocial and vascular risk factors. However, less is known about the potential contribution of Alzheimer's disease pathological differences. Objective To examine potential differences incross-sectional and longitudinal cognitive performance in black and white participants who were clinically normal at baseline. Methods 296 participants (48 African-American/black participants) underwent MRI and amyloid PET at baseline. Linear mixed models were used to examine the main effects of race, years of education, reading ability, Framingham Heart Study cardiovascular risk score (FHS-CVD), white matter hyperintensities (WMH), and amyloid (Aβ) burden on the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite-5 (PACC5). Results Lower levels of educationalattainment and reading ability were found for blacks compared to whites. By contrast, no differences in FHS-CVD, WMH, or Aβ were found by racial group. Baseline differences in PACC5 score were attenuated after adjusting for educationalfactors, vascular factors, and Aβ, but remained lower for blacks compared to whites (β= -0.24, p = 0.014). Further, blacks demonstrated a faster rate of PACC5 decline longitudinally compared to whites (β = -0.055, p = 0.025) after adjusting for covariates. Conclusion Accounting for educationalfactors, vascular factors, and Aβ burden diminished, but did not eliminate, racial differences in PACC5 performance longitudinally. Understanding potential differences in longitudinal cognitive outcomes by race may be important for upcoming secondary prevention trials.
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APA 7th
Amariglio, R. E., Buckley, R. F., Rabin, J. S., Papp, K. V., Quiroz, Y. T., Mormino, E. C., et al. (2020). Examining Cognitive Decline Across Black and White Participants in the Harvard Aging Brain Study. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-191291
Vancouver
Amariglio RE, Buckley RF, Rabin JS, Papp KV, Quiroz YT, Mormino EC, et al. Examining Cognitive Decline Across Black and White Participants in the Harvard Aging Brain Study. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2020. doi:10.3233/jad-191291. PMID: 32417775.
BibTeX
@article{amariglio2020-32417775,
author = {Amariglio, R. E. and Buckley, R. F. and Rabin, J. S. and Papp, K. V. and Quiroz, Y. T. and Mormino, E. C. and Sparks, K. P. and Johnson, K. A. and others},
title = {{Examining Cognitive Decline Across Black and White Participants in the Harvard Aging Brain Study}},
journal = {Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.3233/jad-191291},
pmid = {32417775},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-191291}
}
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Key findings
- Background Black Americans are approximately twice as likely to develop dementia as compared to White Americans and the magnitude of this disparity is often attributed to a variety of factors that include psychosocial and vascular risk factors.
- Results Lower levels of educationalattainment and reading ability were found for blacks compared to whites.
- Baseline differences in PACC5 score were attenuated after adjusting for educationalfactors, vascular factors, and Aβ, but remained lower for blacks compared to whites (β= -0.24, p = 0.014).
- Further, blacks demonstrated a faster rate of PACC5 decline longitudinally compared to whites (β = -0.055, p = 0.025) after adjusting for covariates.
Why it matters
In 296 clinically normal participants, Black participants had lower baseline scores on a cognitive composite and declined faster over time than White participants, even after adjusting for education, vascular factors, and amyloid. Amyloid burden, vascular risk scores, and white matter hyperintensities did not differ by race.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants296
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 58/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Journal of Alzheimer s Disease: journal h-index 218 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 296 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 32 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 4.0 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 16 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Reisa Anne Sperling: h-index 157 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32417775) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 58 / 100 | — |
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