Chair: Danielle Carlin, NIEHS
Co-Chair: Pamela Lein, University of California Davis

Primary Endorser: Neurotoxicology Specialty Section


Endorser(s): Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section


Endorser(s): Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section

Approximately seven million people in the US live with dementia or other age-related neurocognitive disease, and this number is expected to keep growing as the aging population increases. The costs associated with these diseases have been estimated at over $300 billion, and there continues to be no therapeutic strategy for preventing, curing, or even slowing disease. There is now credible evidence linking certain environmental exposures to accelerated brain aging. For example, particulate matter (PM_2.5), ozone (O₃), nitrogen oxides (NO_x and NO₂), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), and metals (e.g., cadmium, manganese, and lead) have been linked to cognitive decline, brain atrophy, and increased incidence of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease in humans and animal models. However, it is still not known how environmental chemicals promote disease or which chemicals might accelerate aging or pose the greatest risk to the aging brain. This Symposium will cover a broad spectrum of research areas that address these and other key research gaps from diverse research perspectives. Specific examples include discussion of real-world and relevant exposures, extracellular vesicles as biomarkers of disease, mechanisms of disease, the combinatorial effects of social stressors and environmental exposures, and the need for high-throughput chemical screening for the many environmental toxicants associated with cognitive decline. This session also will address the need for age-related neurocognitive disease prevention and intervention strategies and how environmental factors could be potentially modified to prevent cognitive decline before its manifestation and to promote healthier brain aging.