Profiling of Vascular Factors in Cognitive Decline and Dementia

Summary

This project offers a novel approach to understanding dementia risk, moving beyond simplistic views of vascular factors to explore their complex interactions. Recent studies suggest targeting vascular risks including obesity, high blood pressure, arterial hardening and narrowing, can reduce dementia risk ​(Williamson et al., 2019)​.

However, the mechanisms that link vascular risk factors with cognitive decline have not been well characterized, as they are often condensed into a single composite score or examined in isolation. Our work shows that multiple vascular factors have unique and additive effects on cognitive decline decline ​(King et al., 2023; Tsvetanov et al., 2021)​.

Project aims

Using advanced analytics and interdisciplinary methods, we'll analyse existing datasets to evaluate how various vascular factors contribute to brain and cognitive function in ageing and dementia. This project will develop skills in data science and big data analytics in an interdisciplinary setting, while contributing to understanding the complex interplay between vascular health and brain ageing, potentially paving the way for new approaches to preventing and treating dementia. 

References 

King, D. L. O., Henson, R. N., Kievit, R., Wolpe, N., Brayne, C., Tyler, L. K., Rowe, J. B., Cam-CAN, & Tsvetanov, K. A. (2023). Distinct components of cardiovascular health are linked with age-related differences in cognitive abilities. Scientific Reports, 2022.02.22.22271137. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27252-1 

Tsvetanov, K. A., Henson, R. N. A., Jones, P. S., Mutsaerts, H., Fuhrmann, D., Tyler, L. K., & Rowe, J. B. (2021). The effects of age on resting-state BOLD signal variability is explained by cardiovascular and cerebrovascular factors. Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13714 

Williamson, J. D., Pajewski, N. M., Auchus, A. P., Bryan, R. N., Chelune, G., Cheung, A. K., Cleveland, M. L., Coker, L. H., Crowe, M. G., Cushman, W. C., Cutler, J. A., Davatzikos, C., Desiderio, L., Erus, G., Fine, L. J., Gaussoin, S. A., Harris, D., Hsieh, M. K., Johnson, K. C., … Wright, C. B. (2019). Effect of Intensive vs Standard Blood Pressure Control on Probable Dementia: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA, 321(6), 553–561. https://doi.org/10.1001/JAMA.2018.21442 

Contact details

Dr Kamen Tsvetanov, kat35@cam.ac.uk - Clinical Neurosciences

Opportunities

This opportunity is open to PhD applicants.