Jagust Lab
Research Interest
Research in my lab is aimed at understanding the structural, functional and biochemical basis of brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases associated with brain aging. We use techniques of positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI, and neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience to study normal older people, and patients with neurodegenerative disorders of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and Parkinson's disease. Studies are using PET imaging to detect the deposition of brain amyloid, and we are also looking at how changes in neurotransmitters are related to behavioral changes in aging. Our goals include early detection of Alzheimer-related changes with PET and MRI scanning, using imaging to track treatments in both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and understanding the fundamental mechanisms of cognitive change in the aging brain.
Selected Publications
Landau SM, Lal R, O’Neil, JP, Baker S, Jagust WJ. Striatal dopamine and working memory. Cerebral Cortex. In press.
Rabinovici GD, Jagust WJ, Furst AJ, Ogar JM, Racine CA, Mormino EC, O’Neil JP, Lal RA, Dronkers NF, Miller BL, Gorno-Tempini ML. A amyloid and glucose metabolism in three variants of primary progressive aphasia. Annals of Neurology, In press.
Eberling JL, Jagust WJ, Christine CW, Starr P, Larson P, Bankiewicz KS, Aminoff MJ. Results from a phase I safety trial of hAADC gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Neurology, 70:1980-1983, 2008.
Cools R, Gibbs SE, Miyakawa A, Jagust W, D’Esposito M. Working memory capacity predicts dopamine synthesis capacity in the human striatum. Journal of Neuroscience, 28:1208-1212, 2008.
Jagust WJ, Zheng L, Harvey DJ, Mack WJ, Vinters HV, Weiner MW, Ellis WG, Zarow C, Mungas D, Reed BR, Kramer JH, Schuff N, DeCarli C, Chui HC. Neuropathological basis of MR images in aging and dementia. Annals of Neurology, 63:72-80, 2008.
Jagust W, Reed B, Mungas D, Ellis W, DeCarli C. What does fluorodeoxyglucose PET imaging add to a clinical diagnosis of dementia? Neurology, 69:871-877, 2007.
Rabinovici GD, Furst AJ, O’Neil JP, Racine CA, Mormino EC, Baker SL, Chetty S, Patel P, Pagliaro TA, Klunk WE, Mathis CA, Rosen HJ, Miller BL, Jagust WJ. 11C-PIB PET imaging in Alzheimer disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Neurology, 68:1205-1212, 2007.
Sun FT, Schriber RA, Greenia JM, He J, Gitcho A, Jagust WJ. Automated template-based PET region of interest analyses in the aging brain. Neuroimage, 34:608-617, 2007.
Jagust WJ, Gitcho A, Sun F, Kuczynski B, Mungas D, Haan M. Brain imaging evidence of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease in normal aging. Annals of Neurology, 59:673-681, 2006.
Projects
- Amyloid Imaging in Dementia and Cognitive Aging
- Dopamine and Working Memory
- The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
- Effects of Chemotherapy for breast cancer on brain structure and function
- Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease
- Opioid receptors and alcohol abuse
