The benefits of nicotinamide riboside upon cognition and sleep in older veterans

Project summary/ abstract Candidate: My overarching goal is to promote healthy aging through quality sleep as an independent nurse-scientist. My clinical training in geriatrics and behavioral sleep medicine and my pre-clinical fellowship in sleep and circadian disruptions lay the foundation for my expertise to reach this goal. This proposal will permit training in basic sciences applied to human studies to support the understanding of molecular mechanisms of poor sleep and cognitive impairment in older adults and their underlying interactions. The career development proposed in this application will empower my growth as an emerging leader from an underrepresented background with previous awards from the Sleep Research Society and American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Mentors and Environment: A prominent team of mentors and consultants has been assembled for this project. My primary mentor, Dr. Bruce Troen (Geriatrics) is an internationally recognized geriatrician and geroscientist. He will be assisted by co-mentors Dr. Rebecca Lorenz (Nursing, Geriatric, Sleep), Dr. Brienne Miner (Geriatrics, Sleep), Dr. Kenneth Seldeen (Geriatrics, Biochemistry); and advisors Dr. Nikhil Satchidanand (Geriatrics, Cognition), and Dr. Chang-Xing Ma (Biostatistics). We have created a training program to nurture research and leadership skills based upon the University at Buffalo and Yale University programs on geriatrics and sleep research for successul execution of the career development and reseach project outlined in this application. Mentored Research Project: Poor sleep quality and short sleep duration are associated with cognitive impairment in older adults and may be candidate mechanism underlying Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias via impaired mitochondrial function and/or a reduced expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Our previous work indicated that enhancing the availability of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) improves physical performance and cognition in aged mice and may reduce cognitive decline and support sleep quality by boosting mitochondrial function and enhancing BDNF expression. We propose to build upon a VA-funded randomized clinical trial investigating the effects of supplementation with the NAD+ precursor, nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3, upon physical performance in older adults, by examining the benefits of NR on sleep quality, objective sleep duration, and cognition in older adults. To accomplish these goals, we will assess sleep quality, objective sleep and cognitive function, as well as examine serum levels of BDNF of participants who receive a three-month supplementation with NR or placebo. This proposal will confirm the potential of NR as a low-risk and low-cost intervention for both healthy sleep and optimized cognitive function.