Aging Clinical Trials

This study is to investigate characteristics of muscle, blood, and urine samples from older adults (ages 65-80) who are either sedentary or athletes performing at an elite level for their age. This observational study will include bio-specimen collection, as well as physical and cognitive function testing and body composition. Read Less

Two hallmarks of both healthy aging and age-related disease are 1) memory and navigational deficits, particularly in orienting towards goal locations and planning how to navigate to them, and 2) increased susceptibility to stress and altered regulation of the stress response. However, there are marked individual differences in these age-related changes. The investigators' proposal will help characterize factors that contribute to this variability. Participants will be pseudorandomly assigned to stress-manipulated or control groups. The investigators will give both groups a novel immersive navigation task, validated by the PI in healthy young adults. This paradigm gives participants the opportunity to either (a) flexibly draw on spatial memory in order to plan efficient routes to goal locations, or (b) fall back on inefficient, but cognitively less-demanding, stimulus-response associations (i.e., habits). Using neuroimaging and behavioral measures, the investigators' protocol will test whether experimentally-induced stress leads individuals to bring fewer details about future locations to mind when route planning, and whether such restricted prospective thought ultimately biases participants towards relatively inflexible, habitual actions. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to examine hypoxic vasodilation and the role of beta-adrenergic receptors in younger premenopausal, perimenopausal, and older postmenopausal women. Read Less

Our goal is to enhance our understanding of early vascular adaptations in aging women with an emphasis on the sympathetic nervous system. Read Less

This is a prospective, single-arm study designed to understand the mechanisms that lead to a loss of response to influenza vaccine in older adults. The investigators will recruit and longitudinally follow a cohort of 75 older adults (65 years and older) who will receive three different influenza vaccines over three annual influenza seasons. Blood samples will be collected from the participants at sixteen study visits over three years. Nasal swab and stool samples will also be collected from participants at seven time-points across the study period. The study is not designed to assess safety or tolerability of the influenza vaccines administered as part of this study. Read Less

The effect of L-Citrulline is well studied in relation to muscle strength, exhaustion, exercise performance, and endothelial function in health and disease. This study will extend current body of knowledge and will investigate the effect of L-Citrulline on brain vascular function. Read Less

This study is being conducted by the Department of Kinesiology within the School of Public Health at Indiana University Bloomington. The purpose of this study is to better understand how inspiratory muscle strength training affects cardiovascular health and mood disturbance in postmenopausal women. Read Less

The ENLIGHTEN PAD Trial will collect preliminary data to test whether daily 660 nm light treatment of the lower extremities immediately before home-based walking exercise sessions improves six-minute walk distance at 4-month follow-up, compared to sham light, in people with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). Read Less

Supervised exercise therapy (SET), consisting of treadmill exercise conducted three times weekly at a center while supervised by healthcare personnel, is first line therapy for people disabled by lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, travelling three times/week to a center for SET is burdensome. Compared to SET, home-based exercise is more accessible and less burdensome. Yet, evidence-based guidelines recommend SET over home-based exercise for PAD. Walking exercise is first line therapy to improve walking distance for PAD, but it does not eliminate ischemic leg symptoms in most people with PAD. The investigators' work and that of others showed that nitrate-rich beetroot juice, which increases plasma nitrite, limb perfusion, and skeletal muscle function, significantly improved exercise tolerance and reduced non-response to exercise in people with and without PAD. The investigators will use a 2 x 2 factorial design to address two major barriers to achieving benefits from exercise therapy for PAD: First, guideline recommendations for supervised exercise therapy (SET) as first line therapy for PAD. Second, the inability of exercise therapy to eliminate PAD-related disability in most people with PAD. Participants will be randomized to one of four groups for 12 weeks: Supervised treadmill exercise + nitrate rich beetroot juice; supervised treadmill exercise + placebo, home-based walking exercise + nitrate rich beetroot juice, home-based walking exercise + placebo. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to see how small blood vessels respond to the stress of high intensity exercise, and if a safe and simple intervention called ischemic conditioning can protect blood vessels from the stress of exercise. Participants will come in for 3 study visits and get home-based ischemic conditioning. At Study Visit 1, participants will be assessed for their frailty and physical function. Afterwards, they will perform an exercise test. At Study Visit 2, patients will undergo 2 microvascular assessments, perform a high-intensity exercise, then undergo the same 2 microvascular assessments again. Participants will be given a handheld sphygmomanometer and a blood pressure cuff to take home. Depending on which group the participants get randomized into, participants will place the blood pressure cuff around their non-dominant upper arm and inflate to either a low or high pressure for 2 weeks at home. Participants will repeat the same steps in Study Visit 2 for Study Visit 3. In addition, participants will also be assessed for their frailty and physical function. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to use an experimental inflammatory challenge to examine whether older adults with symptoms of anxiety experience loss of pleasure or loss of motivation when they are exposed to inflammation. Loss of pleasure or loss of motivation will be evaluated using self-report questionnaires, computer tasks, and during a brain scan. Read Less

The present study will evaluate the effects of both aging and nicotine on psychophysical tasks and electrophysiological measures. Nicotine will be administered to study participants in the form of gum that is available as an over-the-counter medication. The hypothesis is that nicotine will reverse the detrimental effects of aging on auditory processing. The proposed experiments will characterize the effects of nicotine and may eventually lead to improved treatments of hearing loss in a variety of patient populations and in healthy aging. Read Less