AGE-RELATED ALTERATIONS IN HUMAN MEMORY SYSTEMS – FUNCTIONAL,
BIOCHEMICAL, AND GENTIC ASPECTS
Supported by Akademiekolleg für den wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs (WIN), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften ()
Applicants: Carsten Diener1 (coordinator), Franziska Matthäus2, Thomas G. Schulze3, Helga Welzel4
1 Department of Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology, Central Institute of Mental Health
2 Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing, University of Heidelberg
3 Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health
4 Work Group Imaging in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health
Research program
The project concerns the question to what extent functional, biochemical and structural parameters of human memory systems are changing across lifespan. Especially, the project targets on age-related neurobiological changes in prefrontal areas and hippocampus associated with working memory and episodic memory functions. These changes are investigated in a multilevel approach including neuropsychological diagnostics, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and genetic testing. Additionally, neuronal network analyses will characterize age-related changes in neuronal connectivity. The interplay of neuropsychological testing, fMRI, and TMS allows the identification of compensatory mechanisms vs. dysfunctional neuronal alterations in human memory systems. Furthermore, functional and spectroscopic analyses, network modelling and the investigation of candidate genes for neuronal plasticity of integrative and local alterations in the aging brain aim to identify respective changes much before cognitive alterations became manifest on the behavioral level.
Study concept
The study will include a total of 140 healthy participants separated in the three age groups: 20-39; 40-59, and 60-90 years of age. The study aims to characterize age-related changes in human memory systems in a multi-level perspective using neuropsychological diagnostics, fMRI, TMS, MRS, neuronal network analysis, and genetic testing.
Design
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