M.G. Jansen MSc (Michelle)

As a PhD candidate, I am interested in inter-individual variability in cognitive ageing. As we get older, various changes occur in our brain. Nevertheless, the extent to which cognitive functions are affected by these ageing-related brain changes is highly heterogeneous. Although we all age vastly differently, “one size fits all” has been the dominant view in ageing research, limiting our understanding of key drivers underlying optimal cognitive ageing.

For this reason, my research not only focuses on unravelling the underlying mechanisms of heterogeneity in cognitive ageing, but also on how we could use these insights to improve interventions aimed at preventing cognitive decline.

I obtained my MSc degree in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Radboud University, where I focused on both healthy and pathological aging. For my MSc thesis, I used MRI data to investigate why cerebral small vessel disease – which is responsible for a wide variety in age-related conditions – leads to ischemic stroke in some individuals and to hemorrhagic stroke in others. In addition, I visited the Heart and Brain Group at the University of Oxford to investigate how longitudinal trajectories of cognitive decline and vascular risk relate to late-life vascular brain burden in healthy individuals. More recently, I have collaborated with the FemiLab at the University of Lausanne to learn more about the application of brain age prediction.

• Development and lifelong plasticity
• Natural Computing & Neurotechnology

• Dynamic and naturalistic cognitive neuroscience
• Cognitive Aging