Dodge Lab: I-Conect

Overview

Decades of research have shown that social interaction is critical for our health. Individuals in social isolation are shown to have a higher risk of mortality, as well as a higher incidence of cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease. Over a decade ago, Dr. Hiroko Dodge and her team initiated a unique behavioral intervention study to examine whether engaging in frequent, cognitively stimulating conversations—a core component of human interaction—using user-friendly video technology can enhance cognitive reserve and neuroplasticity, thereby improving cognitive function. The study started long before the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of social interactions on our emotional, cognitive and overall health. The series of intervention studies is one of the few behavioral randomized controlled trials focusing on social interactions in the oldest old segment of the population, in which social isolation is becoming a significant social issue.

Dr. Dodge’s team employs innovative analytical approaches, including individual treatment response (ITR) analysis, to evaluate how each individual responds to treatment rather than relying solely on average group effects. The trial also incorporates novel functional outcomes related to cognition, such as acoustic and linguistic features derived from natural conversational recordings, alongside biological mechanisms assessed through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other measures.

The team is further developing AI-based conversational systems that replicate the efficacy of the I-CONECT intervention using digital twins of study participants. The integration of modern communication technologies, AI-driven conversational tools, and machine learning approaches applied to functional outcomes provides a strong and valuable foundation for dementia prevention trials and supports the implementation of scalable, community-based strategies for reducing dementia risk.

Research Projects

Conversational engagement as a means to delay Alzheimer's disease onset: Phase II

The study, funded by the R01 AG051628 grant, examines conversational engagement delivered using webcam and internet could improve cognitive functions and identifies optimal duration and frequency of conversational engagement required to see the improvement. Targeted subjects are socially isolated seniors aged 75 and older with normal cognition recruited mainly from the Meals on Wheels program. This is a multi-center study being conducted at Portland, Oregon and Detroit, Michigan.

Web-enabled social interaction to delay cognitive decline among seniors with MCI: Phase I

This study, funded by the R01 AG056102, examines social interactions could improve cognitive functions among those with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). This is a multi-center study being conducted at Portland, Oregon and Detroit, Michigan.

Identification of Mild Cognitive Impairment using machine learning
from language and behavior markers

The goal of this study, funded by the R01AG072449 grant, is to discover language and behavior markers signaling early-stage MCI, as well as integrate the markers into effective machine-learning models for the detection of MCI. The Principal Investigators are Drs. Dodge, Zhou, and Wang (multiple PIs).

White matter hyperintensity-associated astrocytopathy in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular cognitive impairment: A targeted histopathologic study using postmortem 7T MRI

The goal of this project, funded by the R01AG056712 grant, is to investigate how cerebrovascular disease, manifested as white matter hyperintensities, is associated with changes in astroglial phenotypes and that these changes contribute both to white matter injury and to regionally associated AD pathologies. The Principal Investigators of this project are Dr. Silbert and Dr. Woltjer.

ARMADA: Advancing reliable measurement in Alzheimer's disease and cognitive aging

This project, funded by the U2C AG057441 grant, validates and expands the NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function (NIHTB) for use in studies of cognitive aging beginning with normal cognition through progression into mild cognitive impairment and into early stages of Alzheimer's dementia. Aims of the project include: 1. Validate English and Spanish versions of an expanded NIHTB (the NIHTB+) in existing, well-characterized, ethnically and racially diverse samples of adults ages 65-85 representing the trajectory of cognitive aging and in cognitively normal individuals 86+ years of age. 2. Expand the NIHTB by adding innovative instruments to assess neurological functions associated with cognitive aging; and 3. Facilitate use of the NIHTB+ in aging research by ensuring it is a readily available resource with robust user support. Principal Investigators are Drs. Gershon and Weintraub at Northwestern University.

Home and community-based service use, health outcomes, and health care costs for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia

The major goal of this project, funded by the R01AG069782 grant, is to assess elements of state Medicaid policies associated with an increase in home and community-based service use by people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia as well as to assess when home and community-based service is appropriately used to keep them safe in the community. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Hyunjee Kim.

Lab Faculty Members

Hiroko H. Dodge, PhD, FGSA
Professor of Neurology
Harvard Medical School, MGH
Hdodge@mgh.harvard.edu

Chao-Yi Wu, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Harvard Medical School, MGH
chwu3@mgh.harvard.edu

Liu (Sam) Chen, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Harvard Medical School, MGH
lchen@mgh.harvard.edu

Junyuan Hong, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Harvard Medical School, MGH
jhong28@mgh.harvard.edu

Zhou, Jiayu, PhD
Associate Professor
Computer Science and Engineering
University of Michigan
https://jiayuzhou.github.io/

Key collaborators

Meysam Asgari, PhD
Associate Professor
Oregon Center for Aging and Technology
Oregon Health & Science University
https://www.ohsu.edu/school-of-medicine/csee/meysam-asgari

Yize Zhao, PhD
Associate Professor
Biostatistics
Yale University
https://ysph.yale.edu/profile/yize-zhao/

Maritza Dowling, PhD
Associate Professor
Community of Acute and Chronic Care
George Washington University
https://nursing.gwu.edu/n-maritza-dowling

Jeffrey Kaye, MD
Professor of Neurology and Engineering
Oregon Center for Aging and Technology
Oregon Health & Science University

Lisa Silbert, MD
Professor of Neurology
Oregon Center for Aging and Technology
Oregon Health & Science University

Publications

Recent publications: https://www.i-conect.org/publications

PI publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/term=Dodge+Hiroko+%5BAuthor%5D&filter=dates.1992-3000%2F12%2F12&size=200