New research infrastructure at Thompson Rivers University will help researchers explore why some people maintain cognitive abilities better as they age and whether interventions could help protect brain health and cognitive function.
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has awarded $226,796 through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) to a research project led by Psychology Associate Professor Dr. Claudia Gonzalez Lozano, in collaboration with Biological Sciences Associate Professor Dr. Mark Rakobowchuk.
“This investment strengthens TRU’s capacity for interdisciplinary health and aging research and gives our researchers the tools to pursue increasingly complex questions,” said Dr. Shannon Wagner, vice-president research. “Just as importantly, it creates exceptional opportunities for students to work alongside researchers using advanced technologies and contribute to research that has the potential to improve people’s lives.”
The project, A Multimodal Approach to Cognitive Aging: from mechanisms to interventions, brings together cognitive neuroscience, cardiovascular physiology and biomedical engineering to examine the complex relationship between aging, brain function, vascular health and cognition.
“Aging affects everyone differently, and we still have much to learn about why some people maintain their cognitive abilities better than others,” said Gonzalez Lozano, director of TRU’s Aging Brain and Cognition Neuro Lab. “By looking at brain function, vascular health and cognition together, we hope to better understand what contributes to neurocognitive resilience and identify approaches that could support brain health as we age.”
Claudia Gonzalez Lozano (left) and Mark Rakobowchuk are leading research into brain health, vascular health and cognitive aging.
Looking beyond the brain
The research program has three main goals: to better understand how brain activity and cognition change with age; investigate how cardiovascular health contributes to brain function and cognition; and explore whether interventions such as non-invasive brain stimulation and exercise could help maintain or enhance cognitive function.
A key aspect of the research is recognizing that healthy cognitive aging involves more than the brain alone. The brain relies on the vascular system to deliver the blood and oxygen needed to function, making cardiovascular and neurovascular health important pieces of the cognitive aging puzzle.
“The brain doesn’t function independently from the rest of the body,” said Rakobowchuk, whose research focuses on cardiovascular physiology, vascular health, exercise and aging. “By combining measures of cardiovascular and vascular health with brain imaging and cognitive testing, we can explore how these systems interact as we age and whether interventions such as exercise can help support cognitive health.”
New technology expands research possibilities
The funding will allow researchers to examine brain activity, connectivity and vascular function using multiple approaches, rather than looking at each system in isolation.
Building on research infrastructure Gonzalez Lozano previously secured through JELF, the project will significantly expand the types of cognitive aging questions TRU researchers can investigate. The expanded research capacity will also create new opportunities for TRU students to participate in interdisciplinary research.
Creating opportunities for students
Students from psychology, science, computer science and related areas will gain hands-on experience studying brain, cognitive and physiological function.
The project will also build connections across TRU and beyond. Gonzalez Lozano and Rakobowchuk have established collaborations with researchers in mathematics and data science, TRU’s Population Health and Rural Research Centre, community partners in Kamloops and researchers at institutions in Canada and internationally.
The researchers say those connections are essential because many of the larger questions surrounding brain health and aging cannot be answered through a single discipline.
The TRU project is part of more than $118 million in research infrastructure funding announced by CFI, supporting 357 projects at 68 post-secondary institutions across Canada. Of that investment, $97.5 million is supporting 334 projects through JELF.
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