The roles of mood and genetic risk factors, on prospective memory in Canadian older adults

Year:

2021

Applicant:

Romero, Kristoffer

Trainee:

Niculescu, Iulia

Institution:

University of Windsor

Email:

kristoffer.romero@uwindsor.ca

Project ID:

2109032

Approved Project Status:

Active

Project Summary

More than half of daily memory mistakes in older adults are related to failing to remember to complete a task in the near future, a process known as prospective memory (PM). There are changes in PM that may be associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or may be influenced by other factors such as mood. However, it is still unclear whether having depressive symptoms or having genetic risk factors for dementia affect PM performance in healthy older adults. In this study we will examine how depression and genetic risk factors influence PM over time. These findings will contribute to our understanding of the factors that affect our cognition and our ability to complete practical tasks in daily life as we get older.