Cognitive Neuroscience Program Director
Cognitive Neuroscience Projects
Neural Correlates and Modifiers of Cognitive Aging
Research Labs
Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging
Ofen Lab: Cognitive and Brain Development
Social Cognitive Affective Neurodevelopment
Neural Correlates and Modifiers of Cognitive Aging
PI: Raz, Naftali
NIH/NIA (a MERIT award), 2005-2012, $3 million
In this study, we continue and expand the research program that has been conducted in our laboratory for the past 12 years. Our goals are:
- To describe the course of differential brain aging with a focus on the best-case-scenario naturalistic study of successful aging as defined by Rowe and Kahn. Our objective is to examine the closest approximation to successful physiological aging to be found in an uncontrolled human population.
- To gain insights into mechanisms of age-related differential brain shrinkage by examining changes in microstructure of the white matter and indirect indices of basal metabolism in the gray matter. We will introduce new imaging method – multi-echo Susceptibility Weighted Imaging (SWI) that will allow measurement of T2* and local field variations with better precision and resolution that by conventional gradient-recall methods.
- To evaluate the links between age-related regional brain changes (volume, diffusion and magnetization properties, and basal metabolism) and performance in three cognitive domains with known vulnerability to aging: episodic memory, executive functions, and speed of processing.
- To examine the effect of modifiers of brain and cognitive aging - the vascular risk and genetic factors (arterial blood pressure, homocysteine, C-reactive protein, vitamins of the B-group and glucose) on differential brain and cognitive aging. Because some of the women who participate in the study will be on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), we will assess the potential benefits of HRT on brain aging. The modifying role of ApoE genotype in shaping the trajectories of brain and cognitive aging will be also assessed.
- Finally, common to all listed aims is a longitudinal approach to study of biological and cognitive change. To attain that overriding goal, we plan to apply longitudinal latent-variable growth modeling techniques to the analysis of our data. We expect to clarify the distinction between precedence and coincidence in the relations among variables described by covariation.
Neural Correlates and Modifiers of Cognitive Aging
PI: Dr. Voyko Kavcic
A grant of $122,224 from the Alzheimer’s Association to study several methods that might be effective in detecting early symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Back to top