The British Council has recently awarded the Lagos State University (LASU), 4000 Pounds research grant through the Researchers’ Link Scheme to investigate the mechanism through which physical activities affects changes in the ageing of the brain. According to Professor Benjamin Aribisala, a Professor of Computer Science in LASU, through whom the award was granted to LASU, the award will allow for collaboration between himself and Dr. Alan Gow of Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, to combine their expertise in Computer Science, Medical Image Analysis, Statistics, Epidemiology, Psychology and Cognitive Ageing to conduct the clinical research.
According to him, “The focus of this study is to examine how levels and changes in physical activities are associated with brain changes in older adults. This requires a multidisciplinary approach”.
“As we age, there is a general reduction in the volume of grey matter (the thinking cells of the brain), and the integrity of the white matter (the wiring that connects different brain regions) also declines. The extent to which these declines occur varies across individuals and is associated with cognitive ageing-decline in memory, speed of thinking and reasoning”, he added.
He concluded that researchers are therefore interested in identifying factors that might reduce or at least delay these deleterious changes in the human brain.
Speaking on the importance of the study, the Professor opined that it could reduce the costs of health services for the care of the elderly, and may also help identify intervention targets, so that older adults can continue to live and function independently.
The study is expected to commence in June, 2014 and be completed by March, 2015 with the result published in International Journals with high impact factor.
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