PhD student | ‘Finding lost connections in Alzheimer’s disease’

The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AD starts with amyloid beta aggregation in the brain, 20 years before the onset of dementia. This long time period provides opportunities to prevent dementia. It is known that loss of brain connectivity is central to the clinical manifestation of AD. Moreover, dysconnectivity also plays a role in non-AD dementia syndromes. In this project you study the genetic factors that are associated with strong or with vulnerable brain connections as measured on MRI scans in the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort as a discovery cohort, and replicate findings in independent other large cohorts. You investigate which combined genetic and brain connectivity patterns are specific or generic across different dementia disorders, and whether genetic factors related to brain connectivity can be found that explain differences between individuals in disease progression. This research is part of a VIDI funded project and includes collaborations with the Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, as well as with large scale European consortia.

About the project
The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AD starts with amyloid beta aggregation in the brain, 20 years before the onset of dementia. This long time period provides opportunities to prevent dementia. It is known that loss of brain connectivity is central to the clinical manifestation of AD, and also in non-AD dementia causing diseases. Moreover, strong brain connectivity is associated with resilience to dementia. In this project you will study and potentially discover the genetic factors that are associated with strong or with vulnerable brain connections as measured on MRI scans in the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort as a discovery cohort, and replicate findings in independent other large cohorts. You investigate which combined genetic and brain connectivity patterns are specific or generic across different dementia disorders, and whether genetic factors related to brain connectivity can be found that explain differences between individuals in disease progression. This research is part of a VIDI funded project and includes collaborations with the Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, as well as with large scale European consortia.