Dr Susana Muñoz Maniega

Past PhD students supervised

Dr Angela Jochems 

Research summary

I employ diffusion MRI for the measurement of white matter integrity and for the reconstruction of white matter pathways, the “wiring” in the brain. 

My major interest is the use of quantitative MRI to study in vivo the effects of cerebrovascular disease, and ageing in general, on the brain's white matter. I process and analyse the imaging data from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936), a longitudinal study of cognitive ageing. 

LBC1936 has a wide range of variables: genome-wide genotyping, demographics, psycho-social and lifestyle factors, cognitive functions, medical history and examinations, biomarkers (from blood and urine) and a detailed structural MRI brain scan. The imaging side of the project has a specific focus on finding how the white matter of the brain becomes damaged and provides important insights into the structural changes that occur in the brain during aging, and how these changes are related to cognitive ability and genetic factors.

I also collaborate on the MRI image processing and analysis of other research projects in cerebrovascular disease, such as the Mild Stroke Study 3 and INVESTIGATE@SVDs 

 

Project activity

“Lothian Birth Cohort 1936” longitudinal study, funded by Age UK and the Medical Research Council. 

https://www.ed.ac.uk/lothian-birth-cohorts

Small Vessel Diseases (SVDs).

https://www.ed.ac.uk/clinical-brain-sciences/research/row-fogo-centre/our-research/research-projects 

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