As we age, our bodies and brains undergo significant changes. Declining muscle force and power lead to mobility disability and impaired quality of life. Skeletal muscles naturally undergo denervation and reinnervation, but with aging, denervation overcomes reinnervation. The mechanisms that destabilize the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) with age, including post-synaptic terminal fragmentation, shrinkage, and simplification, are still unknown.

Our perceptual experiences also change due to alterations in myelination and functional connectivity throughout the brain, especially in areas associated with sensory and higher-order cognitive functions.

We use a combination of clinical, statistical, and basic science approaches to:

  • Understand the mechanistic bases of these changes.
  • Identify the factors that predict them.
  • Test new interventional strategies to prevent or reverse age-related decline in neurological function.

Associated Faculty

Carol A. Shively
Research Interests: Social stress effects on disease susceptibility including depression, coronary artery atherosclerosis, visceral obesity and metabolic syndrome using nonhuman primate models

Paul J. Laurienti
Research Interests: Brain; Nerve Net; Attention; Aging; Auditory Perception

Kimberly Francis Raab-Graham
Research Interests: Local protein synthesis, depression, autism, alcohol use disorder, Alzheimer's disease, ion channels, GABAB receptors, mTORC1, calcium imaging, proteomics

Osvaldo Delbono
Research Interests: Role of ion channels in aging neuromuscular system

Tao Ma
Research Interests: Alzheimer's, Aging

Allyn Howlett
Research Interests: Neuropharmacology, Signal transduction Cell Biology, Cannabinoid Receptors, Endocannabinoids

Timothy Michael Hughes
Research Interests: Epidemiology and prevention

Ramon Casanova
Research Interests: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Artificial Intelligence; Alzheimer Disease, Brain; Diabetic Retinopathy

Gretchen Brenes
Research Interests: Depression, Anxiety Disorders, OCD

Jonathan H. Burdette
Research Interests: Exercise, Aneurysm

Christopher T. Whitlow
Research Interests: Networks, TBI, Migraine, Alzheimer's

Meredith Addicott
Research Interests: Stress, Psychological, Tobacco Use Disorder, Reward, Drugs, Brain Imaging, Addiction Neuroscience

 

Laura Baker
Research Interests: Alzheimer's disease, insulin, growth hormone-related hormone, cognition

Sean L. Simpson
Research Interests: Networks, biostatistics, complexity and imaging

Christina Elizabeth Hugenschmidt
Research Interests: Aging, diabetes, neuroscience behavior, radiology, imaging, nuclear medicine

Suzanne Craft
Research Interests: Alzheimer Disease, Insulin, Insulin Resistance; Hypoglycemic Agents, Cognition Disorders

Trey Bateman
Research Interests: Allostatic Load, Lewy Body Dementia, Mild Behavioral Impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias, Cognition and Dementia, Modifiable Risk Factors Associated with Dementia

Mark Baxter
Research Interests: Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias, Brain Aging, Cognitive Neuroscience, Learning and Memory

Pooja Jadiya
Research Interests: Aging, Alzheimer’s Disease, Calcium, Mitochondria, Metabolism, Neurodegenerative Diseases

Michelle Mielke

Kiran Solingapuram Sai
Research Interests: Radiopharmaceuticals, Positron-Emission Tomography, Alzheimer's Disease, Nuclear Medicine, Molecular Imaging, Cancer Imaging

Leah Solberg Woods
Research Interests: Genetics of Diabetes and Obesity, Genetics of Mental Health, QTL Mapping, Outbred Rodents

Ruth Benca

Drew Kiraly 

Christina Meade
Research Interests: Cannabinoids, HIV, Health Disparities, Psychostimulants, Cognitive Function, Clinical Neuroscience