Prevention & Protection
My project "Virtual Reality against memory loss" is funded by the EFRE grant "Autonomie im Alter". We plan to adapt the abstract stimulus material of my training paradigm to a appealing VR environment in order to create a core training for autnomous prevention of cognitive decline in older age. Moreover, I am interested in combined physical and cognitive interventions and weather they have the potential to decrease cognitive decline and minimize risk factors for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer´s Disease.
Transcranial Brain Stimulation
Direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive tool to investigate basic mechanisms in attention and memory functions. Future research can focus on using tDCS to enhance memory consolidation or improving training effects in the prevention context, but is also useful for identifying the functional role of brain areas. Our ide is a new theory-guided stimulation method that includes both the anode and the cathode as active electrodes. Thus, we assume more effective modulations of entire brain networks.
Resting-state functional connectivity in frontoparietal and frontostriatal networksNetwork connectivity is highly related to cognition over the AD-continuum. As lifestyle is known as a preventive factors for brain maintenance during healthy and pathological aging the connection between lifestyle and network connectivity seems worth to be investigated. Here, I am particularly interested in the network connectivity of the frontoparietal and frontostriatal network and their longitudinal changes. The relation between cognitive changes in the AD continuum and network connectivity is thought to be affected by lifestyle (physical activity, psychological well-being, cognitive stimulation, nutrition, sleep). A healthy lifestyle may serve as a driver for brain maintenance in order to retain structural and functional changes.
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Cognitive Training
The proposed strong interaction between filtering efficiency and WM capacity made me ask whether a training of filtering abilities can enhance working memory. Training to filter out distractors enhances working memory performance and leads to more efficent encoding processes. These findings may open up new avenues for ameliorating memory deficits in patients. Furtermore, my filter training enhances decision-making in young but more in older adults. As cognitive health leads to more autonomy in higher age my training could be very helpful.
Early Diagnosis of Dementia
Alzheimer´s Disease starts before cognitive decline can be objectively measured. Therapy in patients at high risk should start as early as possible in the course of dementia. Thus, early diagnostic markers are very important to identify those patients with subjective or mild cognitive decline who will develop Alzheimer´s Disease. New markers could be the taste, late recall perfromances or the imaging of the Locus Coeruleus.
Cognitive effects of COVID-19 restrictions & mental health changesThe COVID-19 pandemic have led to extensive changes to life as we know it, e.g. gouvernments have released restrictive means to reduce the spread of the virus and announced so called "lockdown" measures including social distancing and home confinements. These resrictions do not only impose broad challenges on mental health but also might affect cognitive health. There could be a possible effect of COVID-19 related restrictions on the course of cognitive performance across age and this association could be influenced by perceived loneliness, depressiveness and affectedness by restrictions are contributing to these effects. We conducted an online study in german people aged 18 years and older to investigate these effects.
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