Brain mechanisms underlying the subjective experience of remembering in health and disease
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Psychology
Abstract
During my PhD, I am interested in building on the research I am currently writing my Master's Thesis about in collaboration with Dr. Jon Simons of the
Memory Lab at the Behavioural and Clinical Neurosciences Institute. I am investigating individual differences in older adults in their ability to perform
recognition memory and complex perceptual tasks in order to identify dissociable systems that support recognition memory. I am highly fascinated by
memory in healthy and pathological ageing because of its immense importance to quality of life in older adults. Therefore, I would like to be involved in
Dr. Simon's proposed project "Brain mechanisms underlying the subjective experience of remembering in health and disease". The ultimate goal of this
project is to develop rehabilitation strategies for adults with memory deficits, which I believe is one of the most important challenges in contemporary
cognitive neuroscience because of our ageing society and the vast amount of people suffering from cognitive decline with age. Making a contribution to
help people cope better in later life is a strong motivation for me and I believe it is the best way I can use my scientific prowess to positively impact
society.
Memory Lab at the Behavioural and Clinical Neurosciences Institute. I am investigating individual differences in older adults in their ability to perform
recognition memory and complex perceptual tasks in order to identify dissociable systems that support recognition memory. I am highly fascinated by
memory in healthy and pathological ageing because of its immense importance to quality of life in older adults. Therefore, I would like to be involved in
Dr. Simon's proposed project "Brain mechanisms underlying the subjective experience of remembering in health and disease". The ultimate goal of this
project is to develop rehabilitation strategies for adults with memory deficits, which I believe is one of the most important challenges in contemporary
cognitive neuroscience because of our ageing society and the vast amount of people suffering from cognitive decline with age. Making a contribution to
help people cope better in later life is a strong motivation for me and I believe it is the best way I can use my scientific prowess to positively impact
society.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Jon Simons (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Helena Gellersen (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MR/N013433/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/04/2026 | |||
| 1941893 | Studentship | MR/N013433/1 | 01/10/2017 | 31/03/2022 | Helena Gellersen |
| Title | Neuroimaging methods project at Neurohackademy 2019 |
| Description | During the summer of 2019 I participated in the summer programme "Neurohackademy" that bring together young researchers in the neuroscience for a week of teaching of novel data analysis skills and a second week in which participants work on a project related to developing new methods in neuroimaging. Our team developed a free online tool that facilitated quality control of neuroimaging data which is now available on Github. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Through this new tool researchers can conduct their quality control of neuroimaging data more easily. There is no easy way of directly assessing the impact of this tool but we have seen other scientist's work mentioning the use of this tool. The method is still relatively young, so it may be too early to gauge the impact it can have on the neuroimaging community. |
| URL | https://github.com/hgellersen/mriqception |
| Description | Precision memory in middle to old age as a function of APOE genotype |
| Organisation | University of East Anglia |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In collaboration with Prof. Michael Hornberger, Dr. Saber Sami, and Gillian Coughlan, I will investigate whether the precision of memory representations is affected by APOE genotype status. The epsilon-4 allele of the APOE gene is a risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, characterising differences in memory functions in healthy middle-aged and older individuals has the potential to highlight early memory differences between carriers and non-carriers of the allele. If APOE e4 carriers perform worse on precision memory measures as compared to standard neuropsychological tests of memory this may be an indicator that precision memory could be used for early detection of memory decline prior to clinical symptoms. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Testing of volunteers is being conducted at UEA. This includes a neuropsychological battery, spatial navigation tasks, and the precision memory task I designed. Neuroimaging data is also collected, including structural (DTI, T1, T2) and functional resting state images. |
| Impact | Testing has commenced in September 2018 and no outcomes are available as of yet. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Interview with Cambridge Radio |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I participated in a 15 minute interview that explained the research at the Memory Lab and specifically my own projects in laymen's terms for the interest of the general public. The interview was part of the Sunday brunch series of Cambridge Radio and was also published on their website. We also advertised our studies during the interview which helped with volunteer recruitment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |