The biological effect of stress on memory during healthy ageing

我们生活在一个人口老龄化的时代。大约五分之一的英国人年龄在65岁以上。因此，了解健康老龄化所涉及的因素已被确定为科学和技术的“重大挑战”之一。我们处理压力的能力最近被认为是一个关键因素，因为它与认知能力（如记忆力）和情绪密切相关，还与许多大脑和身体的变化有关，这些变化与衰老有关(1)。这个项目将使用一些互补的方法来研究压力对认知的影响。首先，我们将研究压力下的生理唤醒如何影响对个人相关信息的记忆。这使我们能够回答关于情绪记忆的文献中关于生理应激反应对早期和晚期长期记忆的影响的一个突出问题(2)。其次，我们将研究衰老如何影响压力和记忆之间的联系，从而深入了解适应不良的压力反应对衰老过程中健康的认知、心理和生物标志物的影响机制。第三，我们将使用多模态神经成像，包括弥散MRI和磁共振波谱（见3,4,5），探索大脑结构和功能的变化如何支撑老年人的应激反应，影响认知能力。在整个项目中，候选人将有机会在蓬勃发展的学术环境中工作，同时也有机会与我们的工业合作伙伴Bioxydyn一起为医疗成像服务行业开发神经成像技术。引用:1。Slavich GM, Irwin MR. 2014。从应激到炎症和重性抑郁障碍：抑郁症的社会信号转导理论。心理通报，140:774-815.2。塔米D. 2014。增强情绪记忆：认知和神经机制。心理科学进展，22:430-6.3。索兰基等。2015。进行性多发性硬化症患者γ -氨基丁酸浓度降低与身体残疾有关。中国生物医学工程学报，28(3):559 - 564。4. 刘建军，刘建军，刘建军等。2015。灰质与多发性硬化症患者的决策能力受损有关。中华神经外科杂志，26(6):563 - 563。陈建军，陈建军等。2013。改善人类白质通路可视化的组平均解剖连接映射。核磁共振在生物医学中的应用，25:1224-33。

We are living in an ageing population. Roughly one in five people in the UK are aged over 65. Understanding the factors involved in healthy ageing has therefore been identified as one of the "grand challenges" of science and technology. Our ability to handle stress has recently been identified as a crucial factor, as it is significantly associated with cognitive abilities - such as memory - and mood, and with a number of brain and body changes linked to poor ageing (1). This project will examine how stress impacts upon cognition using a number of complementary approaches. First, we will examine how physiological arousal during stress impacts upon memory for personally relevant information. This allows us to answer an outstanding question in the literature on emotional memory about the influence of the physiological stress response on early and late long-term memory (2). Second, we will examine how ageing affects the link between stress and memory, offering insight into the mechanisms through which maladaptive stress-response impacts upon cognitive, psychological and biological markers of wellbeing in ageing. Third, we will use multi-modal neuroimaging, including diffusion MRI and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (see 3,4,5), to explore how variation in brain structure and function underpins stress-response in older adults, influencing cognitive ability. Throughout this project, the candidate will have the opportunity to work in a thriving academic environment, but also to spend time with our industrial collaborator, Bioxydyn, developing neuroimaging techniques for the medical imaging services industry. References:1. Slavich GM, Irwin MR. 2014. From Stress to Inflammation and Major Depressive Disorder: A Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression. Psychological Bulletin, 140: 774-815.2. Talmi D. 2014. Enhanced emotional memory: cognitive and neural mechanisms. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22: 430-6.3. Cawley N, Solanky BS, Muhlert N et al. 2015. Reduced gamma-aminobutyric acid concentration is associated with physical disability in progressive multiple sclerosis. Brain, 138: 2584-95. 4. Muhlert N, Sethi V, Cipolotti L et al. 2015. The grey matter correlates of impaired decision-making in multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 86: 530-536.5. Cercignani M, Embleton K, Parker GJM et al. 2013. Group-averaged anatomical connectivity mapping for improved human white matter pathway visualisation. NMR in Biomedicine, 25: 1224-33.