Research Program
Common Anatomic Protocol (CAP)
Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) Imaging
PIB and Genetic Studies of AD Risk
Dietary Intervention and Exercise Training (DIET)
Lifetime Engagement in Activity Project (LEAP)
Frontotemporal Dementia
Spatial Navigation
Common Anatomic Protocol (CAP)
The CAP is a longitudinal study funded through the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC). This study involves structural MR imaging to detect changes in the brain among demented and non-demented individuals. Study participants are asked to come back every 1-2 years for another MRI scan.
Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) Imaging
Accumulation of amyloid plaques subsequent to Alzheimer's disease (AD) used to be diagnosable solely upon autospy. Recent neuroimaging work has indicated, however, that PET imaging of the brain using the compound PIB, which binds to amyloid in the brain, may serve as a useful biomarker both for AD and for identifying people at risk for developing AD. We are currently engaged in research which may better elucidate the structural and behavioral roles of the precuneus in AD, as the precuneus has recently been identified using PET-PIB imaging as a critical location for amyloid deposits in the pre-clinical and clinical AD brain (Mintun, et al, 2006).
PIB and Genetic Studies of AD Risk
Collaborators: Dr. Alison Goate and Dr. Mark Mintun
Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) is being investigated for use as a quantitative endophenotype for genetic studies of Alzheimer's Disease risk. In collaboration with Dr. Alison Goate and Dr. Mark Mintun, we are working to collect PIB/PET, Genetic, MRI, and Neuropsychological data from older adults with and without Dementia.
Dietary Intervention and Exercise Training (DIET)
Collaborators: Dr. Villareal and Nicole Wright
Previous investigations indicate that physical fitness may selectively enhance performance on executive function tasks that are dependent on the integrity of prefrontal regions. However, the precise mechanism by which physical fitness benefits cognition is unknown. One hypothesis is that physical fitness may reduce brain tissue loss (Colcombe et al., 2006). To examine this hypothesis, obese older adults have been randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups (physical exercise + dietary change, physical exercise alone, dietary change alone) or a control group. The intervention is distributed over the course of a year, and structural MRIs and cognitive test data will be collected from participants at each of three time points (baseline, 6 months, and 1 year). A variety of cognitive domains are being examined including executive control, episodic memory, and visuo-spatial skills. We expect that increases in aerobic fitness may selectively reduce tissue loss in prefrontal regions and enhance performance on executive control tasks, as well as episodic memory tasks that rely on executive control processes. This study also offers the potential to inform our understanding of the relationship between dietary changes, brain health, and cognitive function.
Lifetime Engagement in Activity Project (LEAP)
The goal of this project is to examine whether engagement in physical activities confers benefits to neuropsychological function and brain health in older adulthood. Participants are completing two physical activity questionnaires during a phone interview. One assesses recent engagement (over the past 10 years) in aerobic activities such as running, walking, jogging, and strenuous sports, while the other assesses lifetime engagement in occupational, household, gardening, and exercise/sports activities. Our goal is to examine the degree to which scores from each questionnaire predict neuropsychological performance and brain health, as assessed by structural MRI. We expect physical activity engagement to be more closely linked to executive control than other components of cognition, such as processing speed. Similarly, we expect that correlations between physical activity engagement and the structural integrity of the aging brain may show regional specificity, being strongest for prefrontal regions.
Frontotemporal Dementia
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disorder which radically and progressively affects patients' behavior and executive functions. Symptoms may include greater disinhibition, hyperorality and innappropriate affect, and can eventually progress to include language problems. FTD appears to be functionally and structurally distinct from semantic dementia (SD) and primary progressive aphasia (PPA), which are also neurodegenerative disorders that affect the frontal and temporal lobes. Although FTD can occur sporadically, cases of familial FTD are not uncommon and have to date been linked to genetic mutations which include those that encode for the tau and progranulin proteins on chromosome 17.
We are interested in studying the cognitive, structural and functional profiles of familial FTD subsequent to the tau and progranulin gene mutations, specifically to determine whether there may be a consistent pattern and time course of changes in non-affected but mutation-carrying family members that may accurately predict the risk for developing FTD later in life.
Spatial Navigation
This study was designed to examine the ability of younger and older adults to learn routes in a new environment. Some participants in the study learned a specified route through the maze by following arrows (route-following). Other participants freely explored the environment (way-finding). Route-following and way-finding appear to be reliant on separate neural systems and may be differentially impacted as we age. The data collected will also aid in understanding the relationship between physical fitness and cognition, which may facilitate targeted medical prevention and treatment efforts. Furthermore, the results may lead to hypotheses about behavioral deficits in Alzheimer's Disease as topographical learning deficits are observed relatively early in the course of the disease.
