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Metabolic health risk worsens the impact of residential air pollution exposure on the two-year decline in perceptual speed across the adult lifespan

Poster Session F - Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Christine E. Lee¹ (), Cheryl L. Dahle¹, Yaoxian Huang¹, Naftali Raz², Ana M. Daugherty¹; ¹Wayne State University, ²Stony Brook University

Exposure to air pollutants is a modifiable risk factor for dementia, and its mitigation may significantly improve late-life health. However, the individual contributions of different species of air pollution to pre-clinical cognitive decline across the lifespan remain unclear. We examined the effects of air pollution exposure over approximately two years on memory, perceptual speed, and inhibition in a community-based sample of adults (N = 137, ages 19-78 years). Annual average exposure to PM2.5, NO, NO2, and O3 was estimated from an offline 3-D chemical transport model applied to residential histories. Exposure during the calendar year preceding baseline was examined as a predictor of baseline and 2-year changes in cognition, with false discovery rate correction. Metabolic health risk was modeled as a composite of waist-to-hip ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Accounting for age and baseline task performance, greater metabolic health risk exacerbated the effects of PM2.5 exposure on declines in perceptual speed (q = 0.0002). In contrast, persons with lower metabolic health risk experienced greater effects of NO2 on declines in working memory (q = 0.03). All other effects of pollutants on cognitive performance were below the corrected significance level. These findings suggest that a common age-related metabolic health risk can modify the effects of air pollutant exposure, especially from PM2.5, on cognitive changes across the adult lifespan. The planned future analyses will examine the interactions of metabolic health factors, age, and PM2.5 pollution that may affect brain structure and cognition.

Topic Area: OTHER