About

Dr. Lauren Leigh Brown is an Assistant Professor and Gerontologist whose research centers around the biopsychosocial processes of aging. Her work uses publicly available data to understand the unique difficulties Black Americans face in maintaining physical and psychological well-being as they age. Focusing on the complex interplay between stress and health, her approach aims to reframe the Black disadvantage narrative in health and aging, highlighting the heterogeneity in how Black older adults observe their stress burdens and adapt. Her research challenges traditional methods and frameworks used to study older Black adults by acknowledging the resourcefulness, coping, and agency Black people employ to reach older ages. Dr. Brown's teaching philosophy emphasizes the value of statistics and quantitative methods in combination with community-based, publicly available data to create measurable change in the lives of Black people. She teaches courses on Racism, Inequality and Aging Societies, Introduction to Health Data Analyses, and courses that aim to destigmatize S.T.E.M. for diverse student populations, ensuring the visibility of Black and Brown people via data and storytelling.

Research topics

• History
• Art
• Literature
• Sociology
• Geography

Selected publications

• Genetic and Social Determinants of Cognitive Decline in Black Older Adults: Exploring the Role of APOE‐TOMM40‐‘523 Haplotypes, Discrimination, and Loneliness

  Alzheimer s & Dementia · 2025-12-01

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Social factors such as discrimination and loneliness predict cognitive decline and are commonly reported by Black Americans. TOMM40, a genetic marker adjacent to APOE, is also linked to cognition. Previous work found Black Americans with APOE-ε3/ε3 and with two copies of the short (S) variant of TOMM40-'523 have a faster rate of cognitive decline, while the presence of '523-S in Black APOE-ε4+ carriers is related to slower cognitive decline. The extent to which these social and biological factors may work together to influence cognition in Black older adults is unknown. We investigated whether discrimination and loneliness impact the effect of TOMM40-'523-S on cognitive decline. METHOD: =14.7±3.23; Female=80.7%). Linear mixed effect models examined the effects of TOMM40-'523-S (0, 1, or 2 copies) within APOE genotype (ε3/ε3 or ε4+) and social factors (discrimination, loneliness) on baseline composite measures of global cognition and five cognitive domains. Discrimination was modeled as a dichotomous variable (none vs. presence), while loneliness was continuous. Covariates included age, education (years), and sex/gender, and interactions with time from baseline. Average years of follow-up was 9.5 years. RESULT: Neither discrimination nor loneliness influenced the effect of '523-S on cognitive decline for the global composite or in specific domains. In APOE-ε4+ carriers (N = 220), discrimination was associated with a faster rate of decline in working memory (β=-0.022, S.E.=0.011, p = 0.044) and perceptual speed (β=-0.022, S.E.=0.014, p = 0.047) (Table 1). Loneliness was not associated with cognitive decline in either APOE-stratified model (ε3/ε3: N = 269; ε4+: N = 167) (Table 2). We also observed baseline effects of discrimination in APOE-ε3/ε3 individuals (N = 360, Table 1), and of loneliness in APOE-ε4+ individuals (Table 2). CONCLUSION: Social factors did not influence the effect of TOMM40-'523 on cognitive decline, but the effects of discrimination and loneliness on baseline cognition varied by APOE-genotype, and discrimination predicted cognitive decline in APOE-ε4+ carriers only. These findings suggest that APOE-ε4+ carriers may be vulnerable to the negative effects of discrimination on cognitive decline.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cardiometabolic health, nativity status and cognition among Latinos in the Health and Retirement Study

  Innovation in Aging · 2025-12-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Cardiometabolic disease increases dementia risk for older adults. Latinos face a higher burden of cardiometabolic risk factors than their white counterparts. It is unclear how nativity or location of birth impacts the relationship between cardiometabolic disease and cognition among Latinos. Importantly, these are potentially modifiable factors that can reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life. This study examines cardiometabolic biomarkers among foreign-born and U.S. born Latinos and determines whether these biomarkers are associated with increased risk of cognitive decline. Using the 2016 Health and Retirement Study with venous blood biomarkers (n = 1027), descriptive statistics show that U.S. born Latinos had higher history of cardiometabolic diseases [1.29(0.08)], lower fasting glucose [121.52(4.10)], and higher hemoglobin [13.90(0.13)] than foreign born Latinos. OLS models show history of cardiometabolic risk (𝜷=-0.62; p < 0.01) predict worse cognitive function while higher hemoglobin levels (𝜷= 0.30; p < 0.01) predicts better cognitive function among both US and foreign-born Latino populations. However, nativity stratified OLS models show that cardiometabolic history (𝜷= -0.85; p < 0.01) predict worse cognitive function while glucose (𝜷= 0.01; p < 0.05) and hemoglobin (𝜷= 0.46; p < 0.01) predict better cognitive function among foreign-born Latinos. Cardiometabolic history (𝜷= -0.26; p = 0.36), glucose (𝜷= -0.01; p = 0.14) and hemoglobin (𝜷= 0.13; p = 0.42) were not significant predictors of cognitive function among U.S. Born Latinos. Findings highlight early risk factors of cognitive decline for Latinos vary by nativity. These differences may guide culturally and contextually relevant treatments among older Latino populations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Associations of Mid‐to‐Late Life Neighborhood Disadvantage with Cognitive Trajectories and Dementia Outcomes in the Health and Retirement Study

  Alzheimer s & Dementia · 2025-12-01

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage has been associated with worse cognitive outcomes in cross-sectional studies. We prospectively investigate associations between mid-to-late life neighborhood deprivation, cognitive performance trajectories, and dementia outcomes in a U.S.-based sample of older adults. METHODS: To measure the exposure of neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage, we applied the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) to midlife residential addresses and operationalized it continuously and dichotomized at the 15% most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Outcomes included immediate/delayed word recall and serial sevens scores from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2020) and algorithmically classified dementia (normal, cognitive impairment/no dementia [CIND], or probable dementia) among cognitively intact adults aged ≥50. Generalized linear mixed models were used to analyze cognitive performance trajectories and Cox Proportional Hazard Models were used to analyze time to dementia. Models adjusted for baseline age, gender, race/ethnicity, childhood socioeconomic status, and educational attainment; differences in associations were examined by race/ethnicity and gender. RESULTS: The sample (n = 26,728) was equally distributed across gender (55.1% women) and education (50.8% completed HS/GED diploma), and 30% came from under-represented racial/ethnic groups. Residing in high versus low disadvantaged neighborhoods in midlife resulted in worse baseline performance and faster decline in immediate (intercept=-0.20/slope=-0.009)/delayed (intercept=-0.20/ slope=-0.010) word recall and serial sevens scores (intercept=-0.13/slope=-0.007) for White/non-Hispanic and faster decline among Black adults (immediate recall: slope=-0.012; delayed recall: slope=-0.012; serial sevens: intercept=-0.13/slope=-0.008). Living in high versus low disadvantaged neighborhoods did not influence baseline cognitive performance or trajectories in Hispanic/Latino adults. Only among White/non-Hispanic adults living in high versus low disadvantaged neighborhoods increased the likelihood of CIND (HR=1.20, 95% CI: 1.14-1.26) and probable dementia (HR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.09-1.13). Residing in high versus low disadvantage neighborhoods resulted in lower baseline performance, faster decline, and increased risk of dementia across genders with larger differences in baseline performance and magnitude of dementia risk in men (HR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.17-1.32). CONCLUSION: In a nationally representative population of US older adults with intact cognition, the level level of residential neighborhood disadvantage in mid-to-late life impacted cognitive performance trajectories in White/non-Hispanic and Black adults. Residing in more highly disadvantaged neighborhoods increased risk of dementia outcomes specifically among White/non-Hispanic adults.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Effort aversion and diminished exploration in apathy associated with Traumatic Brain Injury

  medRxiv · 2025-08-26 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Clinical apathy might result from either a diminished willingness to exert effort for known rewards or from reduced motivation to explore potentially beneficial future opportunities. To identify the underlying cognitive and neural bases of apathy, we used task-based fMRI to examine motivated choice computations in patients with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI)-a condition frequently associated with apathy-and compared their behavior and neural activity to that of healthy controls (CTRLs). Participants performed two choice tasks involving distinct types of motivational tradeoffs: i) An effort-value tradeoff task (the 'Apples Task') requiring them to decide how much physical effort they were willing to exert for varying reward magnitudes, and ii) An explore-exploit tradeoff task (the 'Novelty-Bandit Task') requiring them to choose between exploiting options with a known history of reward or exploring novel options with uncertain but potentially higher future value. Across both TBI and CTRL, higher apathy was associated with steeper effort-based discounting of rewards. This behavioral pattern was linked to heightened neural encoding of effort costs in a common network including central somatomotor areas, midcingulate, middle insula, and putamen across both TBI and CTRL. In contrast, the explore-exploit task revealed a neurocomputational signature of apathy unique to TBI. Apathy in TBI was not associated with an impaired ability to learn the immediate expected value of choices, but with a specific reduction in the latent valuation of gaining information about future rewards. This behavioral deficit was directly tied to blunted encoding of reward prediction errors (RPEs) when participants' received feedback about their choices in frontopolar cortex (FPC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex, cingulate, insula, and dorsal and ventral striatum. These findings suggest a dual-mechanism account of apathy. While an aversion to effort may be a transdiagnostic feature of apathy, clinical apathy acquired after a TBI may be uniquely characterized by an impairment in future-oriented decision making. Optimistic valuation of uncertain choice opportunities elicits RPE when decisions to explore those opportunities are rewarded or unrewarded. We propose that blunted RPE encoding in prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia in TBI degrades a crucial teaching signal-preventing the individual from learning about the benefits of engaging in directed exploration of novel options, thereby diminishing their motivation to explore again in the future. This specific deficit in outcome monitoring and brain networks that encode RPEs at feedback highlights a potential target for neuromodulatory interventions aimed at rescuing motivation in patients with TBI.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Working Through It: Lifetime Experiences of Employment Discrimination Among Older Black Americans and Implications for Labor Force Participation, Job Dissatisfaction, and Mental Health in Older Adulthood

  Journal of Aging and Health · 2024-06-17 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Objectives To examine lifetime experiences of employment discrimination and their association with Black older adults’ employment status and well-being. Methods We use data from the Health and Retirement Study’s leave-behind questionnaire to characterize lifetime experiences of being unfairly fired, not hired, or not promoted among Black older adults ( N = 2331) and test associations with labor force status at age 62, job satisfaction among those working, and depressive symptoms. Results Employment discrimination was commonly reported by Black older adults, especially among men and those with college educations. Employment discrimination was not associated with employment status at age 62 but was associated with job dissatisfaction (OR = 2.25, p = 0.016) and depressive symptoms (Beta = 0.13, p = 0.021). Discussion Findings suggest a negative association between employment discrimination at any point in the life course and Black older adults’ well-being. Employment discrimination is an obstacle to healthy aging, yet improved discrimination survey items are needed to fully capture its impact on Black Americans.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• BODY MASS INDEX AND OLDER WOMEN AND FEMMES EXPERIENCES WITH DISCRIMINATION IN THE HEALTHCARE SETTING

  Innovation in Aging · 2024-12-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract BMI is used widely both within and outside of healthcare settings to understand health despite the contradictory evidence around the impact of obesity on mortality in middle age and older adulthood. We examine how BMI impacts reports of older white, Black and Latine women and femmes’ self-reports of ever experiencing discrimination in the health care setting over their lifetime using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) leave behind questionnaire (n=7,614). We also examine if experiencing this type of discrimination in the healthcare setting impacts these women’s mental health. Having ever been unfairly denied health care or treatment was more commonly reported by older Black (n=1,059) and Latine (n=588) women/femmes relative to older white women. Regardless of race/ethnicity, women and femmes with a higher BMI have an increased likelihood of reporting being unfairly denied health care (OR=1.03, p=0.01). Women who report being unfairly denied treatment in the doctor’s office also report more depressive symptoms (ℬ=0.93; p< 0.001). Findings demonstrate that women with higher BMI are at increased risk of experiencing discrimination in a health care setting over their lifetime. This is especially true for Black and Latine women/femmes who are more likely to report discrimination. Anti-racist efforts in healthcare must also address unfair treatment of women and femmes based on their BMI.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Interdisciplinary Treatment Approach to Youth with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Co-occurring Mental Health Conditions

  Developmental Disabilities Network Journal · 2024-04-15 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Many individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (IDD) have co-occurring mental health needs, yet service delivery options often do not allow for the integrated delivery of mental health treatment and social behavioral support services. Siloed treatment approaches often result in lack of collaboration between providers, increasing the difficulty in accessing comprehensive and coordinated treatments and reducing treatment potential and effective outcomes. Additionally, many service providers in behavioral support services are not trained to address significant mental health needs; similarly, providers of mental health services lack experience in modifying practices for differing cognitive needs. The lack of cross-training and cross-collaboration makes it difficult for an individual or family member to access appropriate treatment, sometimes resulting in crisis situations when coordinated, comprehensive interventions are absent. This paper discusses the need for delivering services in a coordinated model, presents a pilot program model in detail, highlights the relationships needed for collaboration, and addresses the importance of inclusion of the person with lived experience in overall treatment planning. Outcomes of the pilot model are presented, including description of a case study of a youth with both IDD and co-occurring mental health conditions who made functional improvements in response to an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach despite failure of multiple previous siloed interventions. Implications for policy development and community-based partnerships are discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• “Rest of the folks are tired and weary”: The impact of historical lynchings on biological and cognitive health for older adults racialized as Black

  Social Science & Medicine · 2024-11-22 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Childhood structural racism may lead to poorer health and longevity for individuals racialized as Black. Racism-related stress cumulatively taxes the body resulting in worsening biological and cognitive health. This study examines the association between state-level exposure to historical lynchings (adverse childhood racism for modern older adults), with C-reactive protein (CRP, a marker of systemic inflammation), and global cognitive performance (modified TICS). We linked the percentage of lynchings of people racialized as Black at the state-level between 1882 and 1968 from the Archives at Tuskegee Institute with repeated CRP and cognitive test scores at baseline (2006/2008), year 4 (2010/2012), and year 8 (2014/2016) for a national sample of older adults in the Health and Retirement Study ( N = 10,500, aged >50). In multivariable generalized estimating equation models, we compared participants (by racialized group) living in states with high lynching proportions (>50th percentile) on changes in CRP and cognitive test scores adjusting for demographics, health conditions, and behaviors. Mean age was 69 (SD = 9.9) and most participants were cisgender women (59%). On average participants racialized as non-LatinX Black living in states with high lynching proportions experienced 18.5% (95% CI 3%, 36%) higher CRP levels and −0.92 (95% CI -1.34, −0.50) lower cognitive test scores than participants racialized as non-LatinX Black that lived in states with lower lynching proportions. As artist Marvin Gaye sang in Flyin’ High (in the Friendly Sky) , “Rest of the folks are tired and weary,” which describes how adverse childhood racism is associated with inflammation and dementia risk for people racialized as Black. • Traumatic events endured by older adults may contribute to later-life dementia risk. • ACEs like lynchings occurred during their childhoods as well as before their births. • Fear of lynching manifests as anxiety for community members and future generations. • Study reveals an association between lynchings and biological and cognitive health. • A lesser-studied facet of structural racism reveals history is salient to health.

  PublisherDOI

• Impact of educational attainment on time to cognitive decline among marginalized older adults: Cohort study of 20,311 adults

  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2023-04-19 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: The effect of years of education on the maintenance of healthy cognitive functioning may differ by race and ethnicity given historical and ongoing inequities in educational quality. METHODS: We examined 20,311 Black, Latinx, and White adults aged 51-100 from the Health and Retirement Study (2008-2016). Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-27 data was used to measure cognitive functioning. Generalized additive mixed models were stratified by race and ethnicity and educational attainment (≥12 vs. <12 years). Selected social determinants of health, all-cause mortality, time-varying health and healthcare utilization characteristics, and study wave were included as covariates. RESULTS: On average, Black and Latinx adults scored lower at baseline compared to White adults regardless of educational attainment (p < 0.001), with a significant overlap in the distributions of scores. The rate of cognitive decline was non-linear for Black, Latinx, and White adults (p < 0.001), and a period of stability was witnessed for those with higher educational attainment irrespective of race and ethnicity. Compared to Black, Latinx, and White adults with lower educational attainment, higher-educated White adults received the greatest protection from cognitive decline (13 years; 64 vs. 51), followed by Latinx (12 years; 67 vs. 55), and Black adults (10 years; 61 vs. 51). Latinx adults experienced cognitive decline beginning at a later age. CONCLUSIONS: The extent to which higher educational attainment protects adults from cognitive decline differs by race and ethnicity, such that higher-educated White adults received a greater benefit than higher-educated Black or Latinx adults.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Differences in Social Determinants of Health Underlie Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Psychological Health and Well-Being: Study of 11,143 Older Adults

  American Journal of Psychiatry · 2023-04-11 · 42 citations

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to determine the impact of selected social determinants of health (SDoH) on psychological health and well-being (defined as depression, cognition, and self-rated health) among Black and Hispanic/Latinx adults relative to White adults 51-89 years of age. METHODS: Disparities in depressive symptomatology, cognition, and self-rated health were measured among 2,306 non-Hispanic/Latinx Black, 1,593 Hispanic/Latinx, and 7,244 non-Hispanic/Latinx White adults who participated in the Health and Retirement Study (N=11,143). Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition was used to examine whether differences in selected SDoH explained a larger share of the disparities than age, sex, measures of health, health behaviors, and health care utilization. Selected SDoH included education, parental education, number of years worked, marital status, veteran status, geographic residence, nativity status, income, and insurance coverage. RESULTS: Black and Hispanic/Latinx adults reported worse depressive symptomatology, cognition, and self-rated health than White adults. Selected SDoH were associated with a larger proportion of the Black-White disparities in depressive symptomatology (51%), cognition (39%), and self-rated health (37%) than were age, sex, measures of health, health behaviors, and health care utilization. SDoH were associated with a larger proportion of the Hispanic/Latinx-White disparity in cognition (76%) and self-rated health (75%), but age and physical health correlated with the disparity in depressive symptomatology (28%). Education, parental education, years worked, income, and insurance parity were SDoH associated with these disparities. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in SDoH underlie racial/ethnic disparities in depression, cognition, and self-rated health among older adults. Education, income, number of years worked, and insurance parity are key SDoH.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Susan Gubar

  1 shared

• Margaret Dalziel

  University of Waterloo

  1 shared

• Carolyn Wedin Sylvander

  1 shared

• Robert Felgar

  1 shared

• J. Landfear Lucas

  Universidade Estadual de Londrina

  1 shared

• Michael W. Peplow

  1 shared

• Marguerite Wyke

  1 shared

• Stuart M. Tave

  1 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Not provided in the HTML snippet

  Not provided in the HTML snippet

• Other, Public Health

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