Healthy ageing

We are committed to a long and healthy life for all. Knowing what keeps us healthy can play a major role in finding new treatments for age-related diseases. Many diseases of age involve the progressive loss of brain tissue due to changes in the structure of proteins in cells. We investigate the effect of factors such as diet, exercise and environment on long-term brain health.

Increasing exercise or making the environment more stimulating has been shown to increase the number of new brain cells that are born and survive in adults. The hippocampus, where new neurons continue to be born throughout life (neurogenesis) is involved in memory formation and mood. Our research also shows endocannabinoids can increase neurogenesis – we want to know how.

Our key questions:

• What are the key environmental and genetic factors controlling adult neurogenesis?
• What are the changes seen in protein structure between normal function and disease? Can they be used as possible target for new drugs?
• Can gene profiling be used to target treatments?
• What is the role of cannabinoids in healthy ageing?

Click people profiles to discover their research: