The causes of dementia are still largely unknown, but some genes are associated with a higher risk of developing dementia later in life. The best established risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is a version of a gene called APOE "e4". There are two other lower risk types of APOE, called "e2" and "e3". Young healthy people carrying the e4 version of APOE have normal memory ability, brain volume and blood flow. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) we recently found differences in both patterns of brain activity and white matter pathways (‘wiring') between people carrying e4 and those who carry e3 (Filippini et al, 2009; PNAS 106;17: 7209-7214). These results suggest that the way brain areas communicate with each other may be affected long before any illness develops. There are many ways to take this research forward, for example we would like to:

1)      Establish the nature of the link between our imaging findings and risk of developing dementia

2)      Understand the specificity of the role of APOE on cognition

3)      Investigate whether pharmacological challenges that have been reported to have a differential effect on cognition in e4-carriers and non-carriers have an amplified effect on brain activity

4)      Establish whether the effects we see in humans can be replicated in mice.

5)      Understand the relationship between white matter wiring changes and activity differences

6)      Investigate how and why brain function is affected by APOE using an imaging technique called magnetoencephalography (MEG)

7)      Test whether any of the measurements we obtain are useful for diagnosing different types of dementia

These are examples and we would be interested in hearing from strong candidates who would like to pursue one or more of these projects, or those who would like to develop their own ideas within our group. For more information about current projects please see our website: www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/psychiatry

All of our projects would involve neuroimaging either in healthy or patient populations. Candidates should have a good degree in the field of neurobiology (Psychology, Neuroscience, Biology etc) and be technically competent. We would also be interested in hearing from candidates with technical backgrounds (Physics, Maths, Engineering etc) who have a strong interest in neuroscience.

clare.mackay@psych.ox.ac.uk and klaus.ebmeier@psych.ox.ac.uk