Quantifying ageing related cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment

University of Ljubljana, located in a low R&I performing country, will partner with two internationally-leading organisations, the Medical University of Graz and KU Leuven, to expand the support and coordination capacity for national and European research in ageing-related decrease in brain functions leading to dementia. By 2025 more than 25% of European population will be over 60 years old, with people over 80 increasing most rapidly. Cognitive function declines with ageing, but unpredictably, remaining practically stable over time or progress rapidly to dementia, when a person loses the ability to live independently and enjoy a reasonable quality of life. Detection of the transition from a pattern of normal, ageing-related decline to a state associated with the beginning of mild cognitive impairment is crucial for providing long term effective medical support and a better quality of life to ageing people. Several advanced brain imaging methods are used to detect mild cognitive impairment. As no single method is optimal for the early detection, there is an urgent need for further improvement/refinement of these methods. Through this proposed project we will transfer current state-of the art methods in brain imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography and positron emission tomography, from the two internationally-leading organisations to Ljubljana. This will be achieved by mentored training of early stage researchers and other researchers through workshops, summer schools, short-term on-site training and expert visits. With the two internationally-leading organisations, we will prepare joint collaborative grant proposals and PhD projects during the life time of the Twinning project. These will enable further development of advanced brain imaging methods to study cognitive decline at the University of Ljubljana and sustain the newly formed research and technology network for the foreseeable future.