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Faculty at Hebrew SeniorLife's Institute for Aging Research focus on conditions that greatly impact adults as they age, and until their studies, had largely been ignored by the research community. In 2005, IFAR established the Aging Brain Center. With addition of this new research center, Hebrew SeniorLife looks forward to building a future of robust discovery and innovation that will continue to improve the lives of seniors everywhere. Since its inception, the Aging Brain Center has been at the forefront of research in the areas of delirium and dementia. Please see our "Projects" section to learn more.
Our Mission
The mission of the Aging Brain Center is to conduct cutting-edge research that will improve daily functioning and quality of life for older people. This will be accomplished by bringing together investigators from across disciplines at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Hebrew SeniorLife, the Greater Boston area, and beyond to broadly examine the mechanisms for cognitive decline, and develop and test strategies for prevention and treatment of cognitive decline. Collaborations will be developed with experts in the fields of geriatrics, gerontology, epidemiology, neurology, neuroscience, neuroimaging, neuropsychology, psychology, psychiatry, anesthesiology, sociology, behavioral sciences, health economics, and health policy to better understand the scope of cognitive decline and its impact on the individual, family and society.
Projects
SAGES- Successful AGing after Elective Surgery Study.
This study is designed to examine the risk factors, causes and duration of changes in thinking and functioning after surgery and hospitalization. Ultimately, our hope is to find ways of helping older adults successfully recover after surgery. This study is funded by the National Institute on Aging.
Other projects focus on the following major themes:
- Risk factors and long-term outcomes of delirium
- Interrelationship of delirium and dementia
- Elucidation of cognitive reserve capacity and resiliency to cognitive dysfunction
- Pathophysiology of delirium and cognitive decline
- Postoperative cognitive dysfunction
- Interrelationship of delirium and depression
- Costs of delirium
- Dissemination of the Hospital Elder Life Program delirium prevention model
Themes
The Aging Brain Center focuses on examining risk factors, pathophysiology (through neuroimaging, laboratory markers, and neuropathologic studies), intervention strategies, clinical trials, and broader societal implications, including costs, policy and caregiver issues for conditions associated with cognitive impairment in older adults.
Our Sponsor
The Milton and Shirley F. Levy Family Chair in Alzheimer's Disease: This endowed chair has helped to establish the Aging Brain Center. "Endowment of the first-ever chair of this kind in a long-term-care facility represents our commitment to Hebrew SeniorLife as the undisputed national and international leader in the care and treatment of seniors," says Steven Levy, a Levy family member and Hebrew SeniorLife trustee.
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