Objectives
The aim of this project is to uncover mechanisms governing neurocognitive plasticity - its potential, restrictions and time course - in young and old age, and reconcile the apparent contradiction between genetic control and environmental impact. We study the effects of memory training with repeated brain MRIs and cognitive tests in a new experimental time-series cross-over design with young and older adults.
The objectives are
(1) to identify distinct modulators of plastic changes in terms of age, neural integrity, and genotype,
(2) to uncover the time course and stability of plastic changes in brain and cognition, and
(3) to test the extent of transfer of memory training effects to other cognitive functions.
The participants are recruited for re-examination in the winter of 2024 for assessment of the sustainment of the neuroplastic responses.
Key publications
The temporal dynamics of brain plasticity in aging, Cerebral Cortex, 2018
The status of the project
We are currently in the process of recruiting participants for the eighth wave of the project, a decade after the initial round.
Funding
The project has received funding from the Norwegian Research Council under grant 325001 "AHeadForLife - Societal and environmental determinants of brain and cognition" and the World-leading Research Environment initiative of the University of Oslo.