How Social Conditions and Lifestyle Influence Dementia Biomarkers in Latin America

To identify how social conditions and lifestyle factors shape blood biomarkers of dementia in Latin America and determine whether these effects differ across populations and genetic ancestries.

Dementia in the Latin America population is strongly shaped by social disparities and lifestyle choices, yet most research comes from other regions, leaving key questions unanswered of their role in dementia biology. Our study will use blood dementia biomarkers, a non-invasive tool for detecting brain changes associated with dementia, to investigate how these social and lifestyle factors impact on the presentation and characterization of dementia in Latin America. The results will help identify risks we can change and guide fair, culturally relevant strategies for care and prevention.

This project is among the first large-scale studies to examine how social conditions and lifestyle factors influence blood biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia across multiple Latin American countries. By integrating biological, social, and behavioral data, and comparing findings with U.S. and European cohorts, the study will identify both shared and population-specific factors that shape dementia risk and biological expression.

This study will improve understanding of how social conditions and lifestyle factors contribute to biological changes associated with dementia, helping identify potentially modifiable factors that could support prevention and early detection efforts. For the research field, it will provide one of the largest datasets integrating social, lifestyle, and blood biomarker measures in Latin America, while revealing whether these relationships are shared across populations or specific to regional and cultural contexts.