# Relationship between sleep disturbances, vasomotor symptoms, and cognitive health in Black and Latina midlife women

> **NIH NIH R36** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2024 · $52,058

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
AD disproportionately affects women and people of color. With no cure for AD, it becomes important to identify
sex-specific modifiable risk factors at midlife, especially those that affect minority women. For women who reach
midlife, the menopause is a universal transition often accompanied by adverse symptoms that may affect their
later health. Sleep disturbance and vasomotor symptoms (VMS; hot flashes) are among the most common and
bothersome menopausal symptoms and have been associated with AD biomarkers and adverse brain and
cognitive outcomes, particularly verbal memory. Black and Hispanic women typically experience more severe
and persistent VMS, experience more sleep disturbance, and show more persistent memory declines across the
menopause transition compared to White women. Black women also exhibit weaker rest-wake activity rhythms
(RAR), which are associated with worse cognitive performance. Considering the increased burden of VMS, sleep
disturbance, and weakened RAR in black women, these modifiable symptoms may contribute to their more
persistent menopause-related declines in memory and potentially to the greater burden of AD experienced by
black women. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that VMS, sleep disturbance, and RAR
contribute to worse memory performance in black midlife women and to understand the relative contribution of
each to memory dysfunction. Building on preliminary data from 20 women recruited to date, 70 black and/or
Hispanic peri- and postmenopausal women with moderate to severe VMS will undergo assessment with
wearable devices (VMS monitor and actigraphy watch) to objectively measure VMS, sleep disturbance and RAR
during three consecutive days/nights. Memory will be assessed with a test of verbal memory as well as pattern
separation, a test that yields behavioral indices that align with the function of specific hippocampal subregions.
This innovative study is the study to examine objectively measured menopause symptoms in relation to cognition
in black and Hispanic women with moderate to severe VMS. The study will yield new insights into modifiable risk
factors for memory declines in this understudied group.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10953092
- **Project number:** 1R36AG088285-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Alexandra Paget-Blanc
- **Activity code:** R36 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $52,058
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-30 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10953092

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10953092, Relationship between sleep disturbances, vasomotor symptoms, and cognitive health in Black and Latina midlife women (1R36AG088285-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/10953092. Licensed CC0.

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