Neuropsychological Impairment due to HIV in Older Adults and Minority Populations Lead Investigator: Allan Kluttz Institution : Nova Southeastern University E-Mail : ak1085@mynsu.nova.edu Proposal ID : 653 Proposal Description: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates are high among minority populations. Most new infections are among males with same-sex partners, and infection is disproportionate among blacks and Hispanics (CDC, 2012). HIV infects a wide range of cells. HIV infection has been shown to cause neuropsychological impairment (Reger et al., 2002). Some show that impairment has been shown to be contingent on the severity of HIV infection, but research is mixed (Reger, et al., 2002). Furthermore, it is suggested that HIV infection enters through the central nervous system (Reger et al., 2002). Moreover, entry to the brain may be through monocytes, causing cascading neural effects due to microglial infection (Burdo et al., 2011 Woods, Moore, Weber ??Grant, 2009 ??Perfettini et al., 2005 Zucchella et al., 2011). This research hopes to improve our understanding of HIV associated neurocognitive dysfunction and the presence of cognitive dysfunction due to HIV in older adults. Additionally, it will also compare neuropsychological impairment of Hispanic Americans and African Americans to Caucasian Americans. Some initial research suggests that there might be ethnic differences, but this area of research has not been tested on this neuropsychological battery. This research hopes to improve our understanding of the extent of HIV associated neuro-cognitive disorder in older adults and whether HIV exerts stronger neuropsychological effects in ethnically diverse populations. Researchers hypothesize that this difference might occur because Hispanics and African Americans typically have a lower socio-economic status and might have less access to healthcare or medications. ??