The Religious Orders Study conducted at the
Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center
The Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center (RADC) is an independent research center located in the Medical College of Rush University Medical Center. The Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center is one of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers in the U.S. desi ...
at
Rush University in
Chicago is a research project begun in 1994 exploring the effects of aging on the
brain.
[ David Eagleman, ''The Brain'', Pantheon Books, 2015, p. 28-29] More than 1,500
nuns, priests, and other religious professionals are participating across the United States.
The study is finding that cognitive exercise including social activities and learning new skills has a protective effect on brain health and the onset of
dementia, while negative psychological factors like
anxiety and
clinical depression are correlated with cognitive decline.
The Religious Orders Study follows the earlier
Nun Study
The Nun Study of Aging and Alzheimer's Disease is a continuing longitudinal study, begun in 1986, to examine the onset of Alzheimer's disease. David Snowdon, an Epidemiologist and the founding Nun Study investigator, started the Nun Study at the U ...
.
Initial funding was provided by the
National Institute on Aging in 1993.
Rush University
/ref>
References
Neuroscience projects
Alzheimer's disease
Cohort studies
Rush Medical College
1994 establishments in the United States
Pathology
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