Andrea L Rosso

Contributions to Public Health

• I lead the Brain, Environment, Aging, and Mobility (BEAM) lab. My research aims to improve function of older adults, reducing disability and helping individuals stay independent in their communities.
• Environmental and Social Determinants of Mobility and Physical Function: I have demonstrated the importance of environmental and social characteristics for mobility and physical function of older adults. These environmental and social determinants have included neighborhood physical environment, neighborhood social capital, and informal caregiving.
  • Rosso AL, Moored KD, Harding AB, Studenski S, Bear T, Acharya G, Rosano C. What characteristics modify the relation of neighborhood walkability and walking behavior in older adults? Innovation in Aging. 2024, in press.
  • Rosso AL, Harding AB, Clarke PJ, Studenski SA, Rosano C. Associations of neighborhood walkability and walking behaviors by cognitive trajectory in older adults. Gerontologist. 2021, 61(7):1053-1061.
• Environmental and Social Influences on Cognitive Function and Dementia: I have identified environmental and social contributors to cognitive function in adults. I have shown that neighborhood socioeconomic status, independent of individual level socioeconomic status, is associated with poorer cognitive performance in late life but not with faster declines in cognitive function.
  • Rosso AL, Troxel WM, Gary-Webb TL, Weinstein AM, Butters MA, Palimaru A, Ghosh-Dastidar B, Wagner L, Nugroho A, Hunter G, Parker J, Dubowitz T. Design of the Think PHRESH Longitudinal Cohort Study: Neighborhood Disadvantage, Cognitive Aging, and Alzheimer's Disease Risk in Disinvested, Black Neighborhoods. BMC Public Health. 2023, 23(1):636.
  • Troxel WM, Dubowitz T, Haas A, Ghosh-Dastidar B, Butters MA, Gary-Webb TL, Weinstein A, Ibeanu A, Wagner L, Gildengers A, Rosso AL. A Preliminary Analysis of Stress Burden and Cognitive Function and Clinically-Adjudicated Cognitive Outcomes in Black American Adults. J Gerontol Med Sci. 2024, in press.
• Real-World Mobility: I have led and contributed to studies assessing the determinants of real-world mobility, measured both subjectively and objectively. Our group developed methods for assessing community mobility of older adults using GPS monitors. Some of the determinants we have assessed include perceived fatigability, lower extremity power, confidence in walking, energy cost of walking and environmental factors such as land use, sidewalk quality, and slopes.
  • Moored KD, Crane BM, Carlson MC, Dunlap PM, Brach JS, Rosso AL. Neighborhood Walkability is Associated with Global Positioning System (GPS)-derived Community Mobility of Older Adults. J Gerontol Med Sci. 2024, 79(7):glae132.
  • Dunlap PM, Crane BM, Perera S, Moored KD, Carlson MC, Brach JS, Klatt BN, Rosso AL. GPS indicators of community mobility and future health outcomes among older adults. J Gerontol Med Sci. 2023, 79(1):glad209.
• Walking and Cognition: I have led several studies demonstrating associations between walking or gait characteristics with cognitive function and risk for cognitive impairment. This has included assessments of cognitive reserve in relation to mobility, exploration of the role of cognitive decline trajectory on walking, determining the relation of attention-demanding walking tasks in relation to risk for dementia, and elucidating the mechanisms by which slowing gait speed is related to dementia risk.
  • Rosso AL, Metti AL, Faulkner K, Redfern M, Yaffe K, Launer L, Shaaban CE, Nadkarni NK, Rosano C. Complex Walking Tasks and Risk for Cognitive Decline in High Functioning Older Adults. J. Alzheimers Dis. 2019, 71(s1):S65-S73.
  • Rosso AL, Verghese J, Metti AL, Boudreau R, Aizenstein HJ, Kritchevsky S, Harris T, Yaffe K, Satterfield S, Studenski S, Rosano C. Slowing Gait and Risk for Cognitive Impairment: The Hippocampus as a Shared Neural Substrate. Neurology 2017, 89(4):336-342.
• Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) in Mobility Studies: My lab has nearly a decade of experience with collection of fNIRS data to quantify activity of the prefrontal cortex during walking, with over 200 participants having completed study visits. This has culminated in several published papers exploring prefrontal cortex activation during dual-tasking in clinical and older adult samples and in randomized clinical trial settings.
  • Rosso AL, Baillargeon EM, Perera S, VanSwearingen J, Rosano C, Huppert TJ, Brach JS. Prefrontal Cortex Activation while Walking Did Not Change but Gait Speed Improved after a Randomized Physical Therapy Intervention. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. 2023, 36(1): 43.
  • Hoppes CW, Whitney SL, Dunlap PM, DiSalvio NL, Alshebber KM, Furman JM, Kwon YH, Rosso AL. Changes in Cortical Activation during Dual-Task Walking in Individuals with and without Visual Vertigo. Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy. 2020, 44(2):156-163.