More than Six Million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), conditions marked by cognitive and behavioral impairments. Alarmingly, over 50% of Community-Dwelling Older Adults with ADRD experience Daily Chronic Pain, which often goes untreated due to their limited ability to Communicate Pain Verbally. As verbal expression declines, pain is frequently Under-Recognized and Poorly Managed, leading to diminished quality of life. To address this critical gap, we aim to develop Reliable and Objective Biomarkers for chronic pain. Leveraging Electrophysiological Tools such as Wearable EEG, EMG, and Eye Tracking, along with advanced Signal Processing and Machine Learning, our research seeks to identify Neural Signatures of Chronic Pain in older adults with early-stage ADRD, compared to healthy controls. This work has the potential to transform Pain Assessment and Treatment in a highly vulnerable population.
