PhD candidate in biomedical engineering (Polytechnique Montreal)
Description :
As of longevity increases due to science and medical technology advances, aging is a critical risk factor for a wide range of human pathologies. The age-related cognitive decline can affect life quality in elderlies. Among all different age-related cognitive decline, language ability has an important impact on social communication and family relationships. Research suggests that among all age-related decline in language abilities, semantic word processing is better preserved during the course of aging. Therefore, a study of the neural substrate of semantic processing can help us to better understand, and characterize age-related brain anatomical and physiological changes. Moreover, as the literature suggests, the aging process and life time exposure of the arterial tree to pulse pressure can lead to fatigue of arterial walls and increased arterial stiffness, leading to decreased distensibility and compliance. These changes impair blood flow and eventually could inversely affect blood brain barrier and quality of neural functions and task-evoked responses. Furthermore, in the presence of some age-related disease such as coronary artery diseases (CAD) this dysfunction trend can accelerate. In this project, we explore relationships between brain structure and measures related to intracranial pulsatility and task-evoked responses to semantic activations among healthy and with CAD elderlies.
Communication and aging 