Cortical Microstructure & Aging
Visualisierung und Behandlung altersbedingter Mikrostrukturveränderungen im Gehirn
The goal of this project, funded by the Europäischen Sozialfonds (ESF), is to use new tools and methods as provided by ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (UHF-MRI) to describe and treat age-related changes in the cortical microstructure in living human brain. UHF-MRI allows to gain more detailed information about the precise myelin changes and iron accumulations that characterize older adults' brains, and also allows us to develop a deeper understanding about the interaction between structural changes and the underlying vasculature. In this project, this knowledge is used to develop mechanistic models of human brain aging and plasticity.
Project CM-Age: Cortical Microstructure and Aging
The goal of this project, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), is to use UHF-MRI to understand better the mechanisms of sensory aging. The basis for the research conducted here is the insight that the cortical myeloarchitecture is related to the topography of functional networks within sensory and motor cortex. In addition, prior research has shown that aging changes the level of "de-differentiation" of involved networks. Here, the goal of the project is to link mechanisms of cortical structural aging to understand better the neuronal basis of de-differentiated cortical maps.