Brain changes in Ageing

Brain changes after stroke

​

A stroke is a blockage to the brain's blood supply. Strokes are very common and often result in ongoing disability.

We are interested in the impact of small strokes called transient ischaemic attacks on cognition and mood.  This research is being conducted in collaboration withcolleagues at St George's Univeristy of London (Prof. Hugh Markus and Dr. Thomas Barrick).

Recent work has been completed by Nasia Metoki.

Brain changes in late life depression

Depression in later-life is common and can be associated with age-related changes to health, cognition, and brain structure and function.

Our research aims to better understand the brain changes that occur in late-life depression, and the factors that may cause an individual to be at risk for depression.

This work is carried out with collaborators at the University of Illinois at Chicago (Prof. Anand Kumar and Dr. Melissa Lamar).

Brain changes in typical ageing

This work is funded by Age UK (PI: Dr. Thomas Barrick).

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) we look at what changes in the brain as we age and how these changes may explain cognitive abilities, such as memory and planning. 

We are especially interested in the effect of damage to white matter - the fibres that form connections between different brain regions. White matter is sensitive to damage caused by common age-related problems such as high blood pressure (if untreated).

This work was in collaboration with colleagues at St. George's University of London Dr. Thomas Barrick and Owen Williams who completed his PhD on this topic.