Salivary Cortisol and Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer Disease in Older Adults.
High stress hormone exposure tracks with cognitive decline in aging, with racial differences suggesting how stress affects the brain differently.
In 3,895 diverse older adults followed 11 years, high cumulative salivary cortisol exposure associated with faster cognitive decline; Black participants showed blunted diurnal rhythm suggesting differential biological stress embedding. This record was retained from the prior triage attempt for PubMed pipeline handoff.
What the study was
- Study design
- prospective population cohort (n=3,895, 11-year follow-up, racially diverse)
- Category
- aging_longevity
- Maturity
- Validated
- Journal
- JAMA Netw Open
Why it surfaced
JAMA Network Open cohort (n=3,895, 11 years) providing racially diverse evidence for diurnal cortisol dysregulation as a cognitive aging biomarker, with health equity implications and scalable measurement approach.
A plain-language summary of published research — not medical advice. Talk to a clinician about your own care.