The National Institute on Aging (NIA) awarded a $433,125 project grant under CFDA Program 93.866 (Aging Research) to the Regents of the University of California at Riverside (UC Riverside). The award will fund a 2-year research project to use novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) techniques to characterize age-related neuroinflammation and its relationship to memory performance. Key objectives include:
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Testing whether older age is associated with higher MRS-derived metrics of glial-specific metabolites and diffusion in the hippocampus, indicative of glial activation and neuroinflammation.
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Examining the relationship between the MRS glial-specific metrics and multicompartment diffusion-weighted MRI measures of brain tissue microstructure to provide a more comprehensive in vivo assessment of neuroinflammation.
The project aims to identify novel MRI/MRS biomarkers of age-related neuroinflammation and evaluate their links to memory deficits in older adults compared to younger controls. This research could yield valuable insights into the role of glial dysfunction in cognitive aging and lay the groundwork for using these imaging techniques to study neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
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