About

There is a subtle line separating healthy aging from dementia. Innovative approaches capable of promoting neuroprotection and slow down neurodegenerative processes to move on towards improved quality­ of­ life at individual level would be essential to reduce the societal costs of an aging population.

Our project aims to tackle this challenge in a collaborative cross­border effort in Montevideo, Uruguay (CUDIM), Pisa, Italy (IRCCS Stella Maris) and Tübingen, Germany (Medical Faculty of the Karl Eberhard’s University).

The physiologic and pathologic processes underlying the transition from aging, over Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer’s disease will be identified, characterized and quantified by highly advanced and innovative neuroimaging methods, namely PIB­ and FDG PET combined with MRI at clinically used magnetic field strengths (1.5; 3T) and at ultra­high fields (7T, 9.4T). Besides the development of multi­modal neuroimaging tools capable of assessing the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and neuroprotection down to the level of brain microstructure, we will explore proactive actions that can be undertaken to slow down neurodegeneration through activation of neuroprotective mechanisms.