7.E. Skills building seminar: Novel analytical approaches to exploring the urban environmental exposome and cognitive health
Authors:   Organised by: Queen's University Belfast (UK),   Chair persons: Ruth Hunter (UK)
Published: October 2023

The number of people worldwide living with dementia and cognitive impairment is increasing, mainly due to people living longer, so we want to figure out how where we live affects dementia and brain health as we get older. Some research suggests that where we live might influence our brain health. For example, poor air quality in towns and cities, can lead to a decline in brain health. As more of us now live in towns and cities, it is important that the environment where we live is scientifically designed and improved to maximise our brain health. The complex social and physical environments where we live make some people more vulnerable than others to developing cognitive impairment. In other words, the factors that account for who is most likely to develop cognitive ill-health due to the environment has less to do with ‘how’ we live and more to do with ‘where’ we live. We do not know how these factors interact to make urban environments a problem for brain health, nor which are the best policies and interventions for promoting healthy ageing and brain health for our poorest communities. The SPACE (Supportive Environments for Physical and Social Activity, Healthy Ageing and Cognitive Health) project (https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/space/) uses various analytical approaches to investigate the impacts, and possible mechanistic pathways, of urban environments on healthy ageing and the cognitive health, through the novel integration of multi-omics, behaviours, environmental exposures and urban environment. SPACE uses data from NICOLA (Northern Ireland Cohort of Longitudinal Ageing) which is part of the US-HRS (Health and Retirement Study) international family of studies. The data and approaches showcased in this workshop are therefore applicable to those working in other longitudinal ageing cohorts such as TILDA, SHARE and ELSA.

Workshop format (60 mins):

Five panel members each present their perspective on the use and experience of different analytical approaches on the topic (8 mins each).

The 5 analytical approaches include:

1. Using Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs) to inform the development of Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs)

2. Mediation analysis

3. Compositional analysis

4. Application of the Syndemic Theory and analysis of synergy

5. Mendelian randomisation

Each panellist will provide a short presentation introducing the analytical approach, rationale for its use, a worked example related to urban environment and cognitive health, and the pros and cons of the approach.

This is then followed by 20 minutes of discussion with the audience on the different approaches.

At the end of the workshop, participants will have:

- Introductory knowledge regarding a range of novel analytical approaches relevant to exploring the urban environmental exposome and cognitive health

- An understanding of factors to consider when choosing analytical approaches

- New insights into how these analytical approaches can address novel research questions related to urban environmental exposome and cognitive health

Key messages

• Preventing dementia and cognitive decline is a global health priority. Effective prevention strategies are overdue.

• Different analytical approaches can provide novel perspectives and insights on the urban environmental exposome and cognitive health.