Håkon Grydeland

• Episodic memory
• Brain networks
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Aging

Research interests: My research aims at understanding the brain mechanisms underlying cognition, particularly episodic memory. I have approached this challenge by studying brain and cognition in development, aging, and disease. Specifically, I have used brain imaging to detect variation in brain features relevant for cognition, both across the lifespan in healthy participants, and in persons with Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). Central questions have included how microstructural brain indices vary over the lifespan and disease status, how this variation relates to cognition, and how these relations associate with factors like sleep and genetic variation?

In my new project, which started December 2021, I build on this research by investigating changes in episodic memory networks across the lifespan and in AD. The aim is to detect changes in brain network markers that can predict early who will show memory decline and who will maintain good function as they age.

I am part of a research center where we use extensive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations to measure changes in brain activity, macro- and microstructure, and a range of different indices related to structural and functional brain networks. Participants aged 4-90 years also undergo thorough, experimental cognitive testing, and report on a host of functional measures like sleep habits and mood. We also assess how the individual variation in genetic architecture relate to variation in changes in brain and cognition. In aging, we use positron emission tomography (PET) to quantify brain beta-amyloid. In our new project, we will also quantify tau. This quantification will be done using both PET and blood tests.

Contact information:

hakon.grydeland@psykologi.uio.no

https://www.sv.uio.no/psi/english/people/aca/haakongr/index.html