Whilst advancing age, on average, is associated with decline in cognitive skills and changes in brain structure and function, the abilities of individual older adults vary greatly. Our research aims to understand how memory, attention and other skills change with age, and how the brain enables some people to have remarkably intact abilities well into later life, while others experience more rapid declines and eventually dementia. As alterations in the brains of people who develop Alzheimer’s disease occur decades before dementia symptoms appear, much of our research is focussed on mid-life markers of change, both biological and cognitive. For example, some of our studies use state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques with the aim of identifying reliable biomarkers of early disease progression. Wearable technologies, such as smartwatches, are being explored as a means of remotely monitoring key behaviours of research participants.
Current studies
► Cognitive health in ageing
Program of research using repeated brain scanning and cognitive testing to track cognitive skills in a cohort of older adults that completed a computer-based or exercise intervention aiming to improve cognitive skills and brain health.
Led by: Kia Nobre
Find out more: https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/research/the-brain-cognition-lab
► Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC): imaging
Clinical data and brain scans from a cohort of patients, controls and ‘at-risk’ individuals collected to better understand the different onset and progression of Parkinson’s disease in different people.
Led by: Michele Hu, Richard Wade-Martins and Clare Mackay
Find out more: https://www.opdc.ox.ac.uk/home
► Competition in long-term memory
A set of studies investigating whether competition among different related memory items impairs retrieval of long-term memory in young, older, and at-risk groups.
Led by: Kia Nobre, Nahid Zokaei and Marcus Sefranek
Find out more: https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/research/the-brain-cognition-lab
► Investigating genetic influences on memory functions at middle age
A study using computer-based tasks and a smartphone app to investigate whether different forms of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE), a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, relates to differences in short-and long-term memory ability in middle age.
Led by: Giedre Cepukaityte, Claire Lancaster, Kia Nobre, Nahid Zokaei, Chris Hinds
Find out more: https://mezur.io/
► Oxford Memory test
Testing performance of healthy older adults in the Oxford Biobank on the Oxford Memory Test, and providing data against which scores from patients can be compared.
Led by: Nahid Zokaei
Find out more: https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/research/the-brain-cognition-lab
► Oscillatory dynamics in Parkinson’s disease
Project looking at how neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease might be detected in the changing patterns of brain activations recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG).
Led by: Kia Nobre, Mark Woolrich, Andrew Quinn
Find out more: https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/research/ohba-analysis-group
► Heart brain study
Using MRI brain scanning to investigate the link between cardiovascular health and brain health, to increase understanding of heart health as a modifiable lifestyle influence on cognitive decline and dementia risk.
Led by: Sana Suri
Find out more: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/research/our-research/research-projects/heart-brain-link-how-heart-disease-increases-risk-dementia
► Modelling dementia risk in UK Biobank
Using large-scale population data from UK Biobank to compare different models of dementia risk.
Led by: Sana Suri
► Cerebral small vessel disease in Whitehall II
Developing a classification system for brain characteristics related to cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), based on multiple types of MRI brain scan images, to investigate the influence of CSVD on cognitive decline and dementia risk in the Whitehall II cohort.
Led by: Sana Suri
Find out more: https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/research/neurobiology-of-ageing/research-projects-1/whitehall-oxford
► Structural correlates of individual differences in cognitive decline
► Systematic review: diet and metabolism on brain structure and function
Systematic review of the evidence for an association of diet and metabolism with brain structure and activity, to investigate diet and metabolism’s role in cognitive ageing and dementia risk.
Led by: Sana Suri, Daria Jensen
► Aortic stiffening and brain structure in older adults
Investigating the impact of aortic stiffening on brain structure and activity, to understand cardiovascular health as a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia.
Led by: Sana Suri
Find out more: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-01-05-healthy-heart-may-help-delay-or-prevent-dementia
► Whitehall II imaging sub-study
A sub-study of the Whitehall-II longitudinal cohort involving MRI brain scanning and cognitive assessment in Oxford.
Led by: Klaus Ebmeier, Sana Suri, Eniko Zsoldos
Find out more: https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/research/neurobiology-of-ageing/research-projects-1/whitehall-oxford
► Prevention of dementia by Environmental interventions and Therapy (PREVENT)
A UK-wide study that aims to identify risk factors for dementia in mid-life and find ways to predict who is at greatest risk of dementia in the future.
Led by: Ivan Koychev, Craig Ritchie, Karen Ritchie
Find out more: https://preventdementia.co.uk
► BEAR
Study in people at-risk for dementia testing the effects of a diabetes medication on abnormal build-up of proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Led by: Ivan Koychev
► Dementias Platform UK Tau PET
Study exploring the use of a new positron-emission tomography (PET) brain scanning method to measure levels of Tau, a protein related to Alzheimer’s disease, in the brain.
Led by: Ivan Koychev
Find out more: https://www.dementiasplatform.uk/our-impact/imaging-network/tau-pet
► ENCRYPT
A sub-study of the PREVENT Dementia program that uses virtual reality navigation and MRI brain scans aiming to identify changes in the brain that predict who is at risk of dementia.
Led by: Ivan Koychev, John O’Brien
Find out more: https://preventdementia.co.uk/researchers-gather-for-first-prevent-imaging-meeting/
► New Therapeutics in Alzheimer’s Disease (NTAD)
Using advanced brain scans and memory tests, this study hopes to identify the earliest features of Alzheimer’s disease, observe disease progression over time, and develop new ways to measure the effectiveness of future treatments.
Led by: Kia Nobre, Mark Woolrich, Vanessa Raymont, Andrew Quinn, Jemma Pitt, Tony Thayanandan, James Rowe, John Issac
Find out more: https://www.dementiasplatform.uk/our-impact/case-studies/study-into-early-alzheimers-disease-treatments
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18213217.oxford-volunteers-wanted-alzheimers-brain-scan-study/
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18212225.oxford-dementia-study-starts-getting-results/
