Physical activity is one of the most promising strategies to reduce risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). Yet a major barrier to validating this approach remains: Few people adhere to long-term behavior change after a physical activity intervention.

 

That’s why we’re here. The new Roybal Center, led by scientists at the University of Michigan and  Penn State University, will translate basic discoveries about motivation and behavior change into scalable and potent interventions — and, ultimately, develop real-world tools to improve physical activity adherence and enhance cognitive function.

 

WE ARE

• Leveraging advances in generative artificial intelligence and tools from control systems engineering to personalize interventions.

• Using wearables and ambulatory monitoring methods to detect changes in behavior and cognition that adults experience in daily life.

• Building up motivational processes — such as habit and identity — to sustain behavior change once our interventions end.

• Creating a new community of scientists that will help middle-age and older adults move more and improve their cognitive health for years to come.

• Helping people hold on to their existing memories and become better equipped to make meaningful new ones.