Basic and Translational Research on Decision Making in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (R21) | PAR 16 449

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 16 449

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Basic and Translational Research on Decision Making in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (R21)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-16-449) supports early-stage, exploratory studies aimed at improving how researchers understand decision making in later life. The main focus is on teasing apart the affective (emotion-related), cognitive (thinking and memory), social (interpersonal and contextual), and motivational (goals, drive, reward sensitivity) components that shape how older adults make choices, both in typical aging and in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The intent is to build a clearer scientific picture of what stays intact, what becomes impaired, and why those patterns differ between normal aging and AD.

A central theme of this FOA is clarifying the basic behavioral and neural mechanisms that underlie decision making and determining how those mechanisms are affected by aging versus Alzheimer's pathology. Projects are expected to examine decision processes at a fundamental level, which can include studying learning from feedback, risk and uncertainty processing, reward valuation, impulse control, future planning, or the integration of emotion into choices. On the neuroscience side, applicants may investigate how brain systems involved in valuation, executive control, memory, or socioemotional processing contribute to decision behavior and how those systems change across aging and AD. The translational angle is that these foundational insights should help explain real-world decision difficulties and guide future work toward assessment tools or intervention targets, even if the immediate project is largely basic science.

Another major emphasis is the role of social factors in decision making among older adults. The FOA highlights that choices are often made in social settings and can be shaped by trust, persuasion, social pressure, perceived norms, caregiver relationships, or loneliness and social isolation. Applications can therefore examine how social context changes decision strategies or vulnerabilities, including how older adults evaluate advice, detect deception, calibrate trust, or respond to social rewards and threats. This is particularly relevant in Alzheimer's disease, where cognitive changes may interact with reliance on others, making the social environment an even stronger driver of decisions.

The opportunity also specifically seeks research on decision-making features that increase vulnerability to financial exploitation and other forms of mistreatment, abuse, or undue influence. That includes identifying the decision processes and conditions that make an older person more likely to be scammed, manipulated, or coerced, whether or not they have measurable cognitive impairment. Studies might look at how memory problems, reduced numeracy, diminished inhibitory control, changes in risk perception, heightened trust, or impaired ability to learn from negative outcomes contribute to exploitation risk. The FOA makes room for work that helps distinguish between poor decisions due to normal aging, impairment due to AD, and susceptibility driven by social engineering or situational pressures.

This announcement uses the NIH R21 mechanism, which is designed for exploratory and developmental research. R21 awards generally support innovative, higher-risk ideas that can generate preliminary data or proof-of-concept results that set up larger projects later. The source information lists an award ceiling of $200,000. The activity category is Health, and the CFDA number is 93.866. The original closing date shown is 2018-01-23, and the FOA record was created on 2016-09-23, which is important for applicants to note because it indicates this particular listing reflects a past cycle; anyone interested would need to verify whether the NIH has a current reissue, recompetition, or related active FOA.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and some non-U.S. entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other organizations. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant groups such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, regional organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, and foreign (non-U.S.) organizations.

Overall, the grant is meant to advance foundational knowledge about how and why decision making changes with age and Alzheimer's disease, while keeping an eye on real-world consequences like financial harm, exploitation, and abuse. Competitive projects under this FOA would typically be those that clearly define the decision process being studied, justify why it matters for aging and/or AD, articulate measurable behavioral and/or neural markers, and explain how social context or vulnerability outcomes connect to the underlying mechanisms being tested.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Basic and Translational Research on Decision Making in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease (R21)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.866.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-09-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-01-23. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for PAR 16 449

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