It's the beginning of February and we're now at 34 participants in the Memory, Attention, and Problem-Solving Skills for Diabetes (MAPSS-DM). Our research assistants will be contacting those participants in the next few weeks for the second data collection. No surveys to fill out for this round! The second data collection involves continuous glucose monitors only. 

 

We're still recruiting!! We need 32 more participants so if you know of anyone 50 years or older in Central Texas with type 2 diabetes  --send them our way! You can see more about data collection and the project on our website and YouTube channel.

 

 

 

Jeeyeon Kim's (PhD Student) poster “The Effects of Music Therapy on Cognitive Function in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review” was accepted and will be presented at the Dallas Aging and Cognition Conference. Since the conference was moved online you can view the poster on their site as soon as it is available. 

 

Jeeyeon and Shenell Wood (PhD student) will be presenting preliminary results from the MAPSS-DM study in their poster “Use of Continuous Glucose Monitors in an Intervention to Improve Cognitive Health Among People with Type 2 Diabetes" at the St. David's Center for Health Promotion Research (CHPR) 20th Annual Conference on March 22nd. 

 

Grace Ganucheau (undergraduate student) will also be presenting her poster “The Relationships Between Self-Perceived Cognitive Function and Self-Management of Type 2 Diabetes" at the CHPR conference. Grace is a Nursing Student and this is an independent study she completed as part of the requirements of the Honors Program. 

If you want to know more about the CHPR conference, click here

The CuevasLab has another study in progress! We were awarded a grant from the St. David's Center for Health Promotion for our proposal “Adaptation of the Florida Cognitive Activities Scale for Latinx adults with chronic conditions.” The purpose of the study is to adapt and test a survey that is used to measure how often people participate in activities that help improve their brain health such as reading or exercise. Problems with brain health in chronic disease are related to poorer quality of life and increasing participation in activities to improve brain health can translate into better management of chronic conditions. Stay tuned for updates!!

 

And it's February so of course, we are obligated to talk about love. Did you know that having a good listener in your life can improve your cognitive health? Researchers analyzed data from 2,171 adults who were 45 or older. Participants reported how available five types of social support were in their lives based on five questions: Can you count on anyone to listen to you when you need to talk? Is there someone available to give you good advice about a problem? Is there someone available to you who shows you love and affection? Can you count on anyone to provide you with emotional support? Lastly, do you have as much contact as you would like with someone you feel close to, someone in whom you can trust and confide? The researchers found that those participants with an available listener had more brain volume. This shows that having a listener might help strengthen parts of the brain that contribute to maintaining cognitive function and also minimize any health or age related damage. You can read the full study here.  

 

And a reminder: If you are a study participant and need to reach us, please do so through our website or the email you've received from members of the study team and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.