Our Ageing Body

Population studies are a valuable way to glean insights into our ageing society. The talk will briefly explore the current evidence about brain ageing from a population perspective. I will discuss whether there is any evidence that the way our brains age has changed across generations with a focus on comparative studies of dementia over the past two decades.

Constant movement of cellular components keeps our neuronal cells functioning. With age, the movements of proteins and organelles slow down. When this process is irreversibly stopped, neuronal functions deteriorate and they eventually die. Inspired by the concept of motion that has pervaded the arts and sciences for millennia, I will show how the idea of movement is intriguingly associated with ageing neurons. Following a simple ad hoc logic, I will demonstrate that the humble fruit fly can provide unprecedented insight into an exceptionally dynamic readout of neuronal ageing.

Tangled neuronal proteins are an anatomical characteristic of dementia and other neurological diseases. I will be discussing the processes that lead to the tangling of neural proteins and their relationship to symptoms and incidents observed in people with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and frontotemporal dementia. In my efforts to detangle these mechanisms, I explore the role of proteins contributing to the death of neural cells. I will discuss the genetic studies of patients and disease models that may help to identify mechanism-based therapies for these disorders.