Noradrenaline is associated with neuroprotection against neurodegeneration and against cognitive decline.

How the brain noradrenergic function changes with ageing remains poorly understood and might be an important marker of risk for neurodegenerative diseases.

In this project, we are using functional MRI to study, in humans, the effect of ageing on task-related activation of the noradrenergic system and its impact on cortical processing.

Funded by FCT: EXPL/PSI-GER/0349/2021

In collaboration with University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Germany.

We are currently studying how a single bout of moderate aerobic exercise or a 12-week exercise program modulate the activation of the arousal system of older adults during decision-making under uncertainty and its impact on learning.

In collaboration with the Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education of the University of Coimbra.

Sara Oliveira - Biomedical Engineering Master's student

Hicran Beşikci - Biomedical Engineering PhD student

Cognitive performance affects cardiac activity just as cardiac activity affects neural processing. The interaction between the cognitive and cardiac systems is associated with emotional processing, attentional control, sensory and body awareness, and perceptual decision-making.

In this project, we are studying how ageing affects heart-brain interactions and how this relationship affects cognitive function in young and older adults.

In collaboration with the Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK.

Focusing the mind in anticipation of external events is associated with increased alertness (pupil dilation), inhibition of motor output (behavioural freezing), and cardiac deceleration. These changes in body physiology are associated with faster and more sensitive sensorimotor processing.

In this project, we investigate the neural mechanisms linking body physiology with the efficiency of visual processing.

In collaboration with the Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi", University of Bologna and Department of Informatics Engineering of the University of Coimbra.

In this project, we studied how ageing affects pupil-linked arousal modulation measured during cued auditory reaction time tasks. Older people presented changes in the ongoing dynamics of pupil-linked arousal with a reduction in the amplitude of the slow fluctuations in pupil size. These findings suggest that ageing affects the baseline dynamics of brainstem ascending modulatory systems.