I am back where I did my PhD studies: Cardiff University. The
research project I am newly involved in examines memory, dementia and brain
imaging employing fMRI. I have come for a trip back to Cardiff for a focused
meeting on fMRI and dementia, bringing together researchers and clinicians in
the field from the UK and further abroad.
The talks open with some quite technical discussion of brain
imaging acquisition and analysis. Although the mathematics and physics are
generally beyond my level of comprehension (I’d need to learn more about the
applications of complex numbers for a start), it does draw attention to how
different algorithms can be used at various stages of the research process.
A big focus of the talks is on predicting who is at greater risk for developing dementia. An
interesting talk by Tony Bayer discusses subjective cognitive decline as a
precursor of mild cognitive impairment (which in turn precedes dementia). There
is a surprising plethora of approaches in this area, although people working in
this area have recently got together to try and create some consistency in how
this area is investigated.
In terms of work addressing dementia directly, there is much
discussion of Alzheimer’s Disease (the most prevalent form of dementia), but it’s
also encouraging to see a lot of research in other forms of dementia (e.g.
frontotemporal dementia, Lewy Body Dementia and rarer conditions such as posterior
cortical atrophy). It’s also nice to see someone venture outside the
hippocampus (a classic target for brain imaging in this area) to look at the
cerebellum; Michael Hornberger highlighted that he has had trouble convincing
reviewers of his research on the role of the cerebellum in dementia, although
he did show interesting results from a meta-analysis in this area as well as
his own data.
At lunchtime I take a tour of CUBRIC 2; a new brain imaging
centre at Cardiff that builds on the success of the first phase of CUBRIC (Cardiff
University Brain Research Imaging Centre). In addition to a high-resolution 7
Tesla fMRI scanner, it boasts a rare 3 Tesla connectome scanner, as well as TMS,
MEG, EEG and sleep laboratories. It seems to be one of a number of new
buildings coming online in Cardiff University, along with a new Innovation
Centre nearby (I believe this will be more geared towards humanities and social
sciences). One can only hope the Brexit fallout does not hold neuroimaging at
Cardiff back from attracting the talent and research funding needed to keep a
centre like this operating.
Back at the talks, it was great to see Dennis Chan (who has
worked with Nobel Laureate John O’Keefe) outline some of the novel assessments
of memory he has been using, including applications of virtual reality. The
conference was grounded by a patient who spoke about her own experience of
taking part in research. As someone who had been active in writing and teaching
as a younger person, she had a great sense of loss of agency when she developed
cognitive impairment. She described how taking part in research gave her the
sense that she could in some way help others in the future.
The poster section is very small but very focussed and
lively. Quite a few posters highlight new developments in methodology.
Next year’s meeting will be held at Cambridge. Given the
level of focus, and the potential to meet researchers in the field at a
relatively “intimate” meeting, it’s worth going if this is your area.
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