From 5 to 95: The impact of life experiences on brain health
Structural and social determinants of health (SSDoH) are environmental conditions in which individuals are born, live, and learn that affect health, and evidence suggests that SSDoH can help to explain similar outcomes in Alzheimer’s disease.
How do the things we’ve experienced in our past impact tomorrow? Social and structural determinants of health (SSDoH) are the conditions—such as where we live, play, worship, study, grow up, and age—which can impact health later in life.
It is known that events and conditions throughout one’s life, or over the life course, are related to changes in older adults’ brain health. Exposures over the life course can change a person’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). For example, those who experience more life stressors may be at higher risk of developing dementia versus someone who experiences less stress.
This paper highlights ways that social and psychological factors impact brain health, and highlights the reasons why ADRC researchers should consider these factors when studying ADRD. This includes things that we are aware of, and the things that we may not think about: the things that happen around us.
“What people do—without even thinking—in their daily lives can impact their risk of dementia. We need to systematically study this in lots of different people who do lots of different things every day to discover what might be the most central factors to preventing or limiting dementia,” says Stites.
Understanding order to disorder at the atomic scale opens possibilities for next-generation electronic devices
A Penn team has developed insight into the chemical and geometric mechanisms underlying the synthesis of new 2D materials, paving the way for next-gen devices, biomedical applications, and cleaner, quicker energy conversion and storage.
Penn buildings achieve LEED certifications, showcasing commitment to sustainability
Three recent building projects at the University of Pennsylvania have earned LEED Platinum, Gold, and Silver certifications, underscoring Penn’s ongoing commitment to sustainable design and construction.
OpenAI, DeepSeek, and Google vary widely in identifying hate speech
Neil Fasching and Yphtach Lelkes of the Annenberg School for Communication have found dramatic differences in how large language models classify hate speech, with especially large variations for language about certain demographic groups, raising concerns about bias and disproportionate harm.
