Grant from DFF to Gitte Moos Knudsen

Congratulations to Gitte Moos for receiving 1.855.308 kr for the project 'Neuroimaging of synaptic density'  from the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

Project summary:
Synapses are the points of communication between brain cells and they are subject to adaptations, known as synaptic plasticity. Recently, it has become possible to assess presynaptic density in the living human brain with the synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) radioligand, 11C-UCB-J and positron emission tomography (PET). We here propose a project with three aims:
1) to determine if cerebral SV2A density is preserved in healthy ageing across.
2) to investigate if short-term sensory deprivation is associated with a compensatory increase in cerebral SV2A density, and if the ability to induce synaptic plasticity is related to APOE/BDNF genotypes.
3) to uncover if cerebral SV2A density is decreased in hippocampus/entorhinal cortex in elderly people at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease.
Knowledge about development of synaptic plasticity in human brain will critically inform us about not only about neurorehabilitation potential, but also about how and when neurodegeneration emerges.