Researchers from @psychiatry_ucam have discovered why living in a disadvantaged neighbourhood is linked to an increase in dementia risk. @_audreylow and @ProfJTOBrien found it was linked to damage to brain vessels – which can affect cognition – and poorer management of lifestyle

🧠New @AD_PREVENT study out today in @alzdemjournals Neighbourhood disadvantage is linked to poorer cognition - via modifiable lifestyle factors and poorer brain vessel health. Dementia prevention has to address structural barriers to healthy living. https://t.co/NcnoOV8Jpb

Looking forward to presenting tomorrow at #AAIC25! I’ll be sharing results from @AD_PREVENT on “Disadvantaged neighbourhoods, modifiable risk factors, and cerebral small vessel disease” 31 July, Thur, 9am Room 801 5-6-FRS-D: Vascular contributions to cognitive impairment II

The most encouraging #AAIC25 results so far: 🔔 The #POINTER study shows improved cognition in both lifestyle intervention groups over 2 years - w/ greater gains in structured group. Lifestyle interventions incl: 🏃‍♀️ Physical activity 🍽️ Diet 🧠 Cognitive + social engagement

Save the date! Calling all researchers in the field of vascular research in brain disorders, incl Alzheimer's, vascular dementia. #VasCog2025 will be in Southamptom UK from 15-18 Sep. Registration and abstract submission opening soon. Stay tuned for more details.

📷: Model of Sir Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell 008 (gifted by Sir Jackie to the Mayo Clinic) #RaceAgainstDementia

After 5 amazing yrs at @Cambridge_Uni, I've officially moved to @MayoClinic! Grateful for mentors, colleagues & friends who made Cambridge unforgettable and excited to join another stellar team at Mayo & @racingdementia to research cerebrovascular health in #dementia resilience

Association between choroidal microvasculature in the eye and Alzheimer's disease risk in cognitively healthy mid‐life adults: A pilot study @SVDResearch @EdinUniImaging @EdinUniNeuro @ancAtEd https://t.co/ZH97GtGx4U

Today is Lady Stewart’s birthday - the driving force behind Race Against Dementia.💙 “I know there may come a day when Helen can’t remember me,… but I give her kisses and hugs all day, every day and try to treasure every moment.” ~ Sir Jackie Stewart Today is #RADDAY

Grateful to be interviewed by @sciam to discuss the important findings of our recent @AD_PREVENT study in @JAMANetworkOpen on the implications of even mild traumatic brain injuries #TBI https://t.co/TPS4JgkeFB Paper: https://t.co/l5MHqhHmaL @racingdementia @Cambridge_Uni

📢VasCog is hosting a workshop for #EarlyCareerResearchers on How to Get Your Research Published Hear exclusive insights from @CCCBJournal Editors-in-Chief @AtticHains & Anders Wallin, and #VasCog's Deborah Gustafson at this free event on 17 Oct 11am BST https://t.co/LCP4drs6gR

A huge thanks to all co-authors @ProfJTOBrien @craig_ritchie68 @WillStewNeuro @DementiasUK @IvanKoychev @ClareEMackay @PareshMalhotra @LorinaNaci @ProfLawlor @NatalieDJenkin1 @medounavi @LiSu02099450 @SteCartier @maripratssedano @Lizz71551128 &more @alzheimerssoc @alzassociation

The implications are far-reaching. We discuss the relevance of our findings to research, clinical care, and the prevention of TBI & dementia at the individual & societal level. There is so much to takeaway and I hope you gain as much from this work as I have from writing it.

That’s when I dove into the TBI analysis. Though I started off mostly interested in the microbleed angle, each new test revealed new and surprising discoveries on the clinical significance of even mild TBI in the community.

So I quickly wrote a few lines of code to test this hypothesis. And, my friends, the results from my interaction model were clear as day. And sure enough, the vascular associations of microbleeds that were missing in the full sample finally emerged once TBI cases were removed.

Subsequently, I noticed the high rate of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in our cohort (1 in 3). Recalling past reports of microbleeds in TBI, I wondered whether TBI-induced microbleeds could explain the lack of vascular associations with microbleeds in @AD_PREVENT.

The idea for this paper came about because, while working on an earlier publication (linked), I was puzzled by how microbleeds were not displaying the same vascular associations as our other markers of small vessel disease #CSVD https://t.co/ZnoDAEH2xR

This is a paper I am quite proud of, because of how it developed from a small curiosity, and uncovered much more in the process. So here's a short thread on how this paper came to be.

Our latest paper in @JAMANetworkOpen shows that even mild #TBI in the community relate to neuroimaging & clinical deficits (#sleep #depression #memory) as early as #midlife AND masks important (vascular) correlates of microbleeds #CMB @AD_PREVENT @OAP_ucam @psychiatry_ucam

In @AD_PREVENT we all have one mission but we do it from different places. All of us meeting in person is rare! So having an extra chance to spend some in person time with colleagues turned friends (looking at you @_audreylow ) is amazing! These are #AAIC2024 #aaic24 reunions!