Two scholars from the Aging Research Center (ARC) have secured the Swedish Research Council’s Project Grant for 2024, receiving funding for the years 2025 to 2027.
Erika Jonsson Laukka receives 4,431,000 SEK for her initiative titled “Biological correlates of cognitive and olfactory trajectories in aging and dementia” as part of the Humanities and Social Sciences call.
This initiative aims to delve deeper into olfactory impairments in the aging population and their ties to dementia and cognitive deterioration. The biological framework for the connection between olfaction and dementia is still not well understood.
“The project seeks to investigate the longitudinal trajectories of cognitive and olfactory abilities concerning a spectrum of dementia biomarkers, such as blood-related Alzheimer’s biomarkers and neuroimaging biomarkers. Our primary dataset will come from a Swedish longitudinal population study – SNAC-K,” explains Erika Jonsson Laukka.
The outcomes from this research are crucial for the early identification of individuals who might be at risk for dementia and could guide individualized interventions and treatments to delay or potentially avert a future dementia diagnosis.
The project includes co-applicants Ingrid Ekström, Grégoria Kalpouzos, Davide Liborio Vetrano, and Giulia Grande, all affiliated with ARC.
Marc Guitart-Masip has been allotted 3,000,000 SEK for his project “Psychobiological markers to improve diagnosis and to predict affective episodes in bipolar disorder” under the Medicine and Health call.
There is a pressing need for enhanced tools to better diagnose bipolar disorder and detect and avert affective episodes at the earliest feasible stage.
“Our theory is that the continuous interaction of sleep patterns, motor activity, and decision-making capacities offers insights from which we can discern patients with bipolar disorder and anticipate forthcoming affective episodes,” states Marc Guitart-Masip.
The project will utilize a smartphone app, a smartwatch, and AI algorithms to evaluate the interaction between these psychobiological factors on an individual basis over twelve weeks among healthy individuals, bipolar patients, and those with recurrent depressive symptoms.
“We will demonstrate that bipolar patients can be identified through the longitudinal interaction of these psychobiological factors. This project paves the way for developing an app that can be employed clinically to enhance diagnosis and foresee affective episodes in bipolar disorder,” adds Marc Guitart-Masip.
The goal is to develop this approach to predict affective episodes before they manifest. This research will be conducted in collaboration with John Axelsson, a Professor of Psychology at Stockholm University, and Giovanni Volpe, a Professor of Physics at Gothenburg University.