MCI_AD PIB-PET_FMRI · Alterations in Memory Networks in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease: Relating the Impact of Amyloid Burden with PIB-PET on Neuronal Activation as Assessed with fMRI

The main objective of this first 2-year period as a post-doctoral research fellow at BWH/MGH Harvard Medical School is to get training in novel Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Pittsburgh Compound B–Positron Emission Tomography (PIB-PET) techniques, their analysis methods, and applications to aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases. The final purpose is to advance the candidate’s professional competence as an independent researcher and the integration of this knowledge and continuing of this research back upon returning to Karolinska Institutet (KI). To fulfill the aims listed above, Dr. Reisa Sperling, M.D., M.MSc. will serve as the Primary Mentor for the candidate. Dr. Sperling serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Functional MRI Project on Dr. Marilyn Albert’s and Deborah Blacker’s Program Project on Cognition and Aging. Dr. Sperling is also the PI of the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Neuroimaging SubCore and is the Director of Clinical Research at the BWH Memory Disorders Unit. She will be responsible for supervision of the candidate in the following aspects of this project: paradigm optimization, image acquisition and archiving, processing and evaluation of fMRI data as well as data analysis and preparation of publications. The results of this work are potentially of great significance to the field of aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases and will add to the promise in revealing novel insights into the fundamental understanding of the early indicators of pathophysiological alterations in Alzheimer’s disease. The training of the candidate will furthermore add to the knowledge at KI and will serve as the foundation for conducting similar research on demented individuals at the applicant’s home department. It will also be the beginning of future collaboration and exchange of expertise between the two departments.