Dr. Scott Moffat, assistant professor at WSU’s Institute of Gerontology and the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has received a $1.46 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging (NIA) for research on cortisol, another hormone thought to influence the brain’s health and functions.

A key to understanding aging lies in explaining why some people age better than others and Moffat’s earlier work has revealed that testosterone may aid an aging brain’s well-being. Now he will study how some hormones may negatively affect human brain functions, and the stress hormone cortisol is on his radar. High levels of cortisol - a hormone produced by the adrenal gland - has been found to be associated with poor cognitive abilities in animals. According to Moffat, cortisol attacks certain brain regions and causes some atrophy and loss of brain function. Exposure to stress and high levels of cortisol may cause memory loss and ultimately increase the risk for dementia.