Gefen Lab
GEFEN LAB
Laboratory for Translational Neuropsychology
Our research focuses on establishing clinicopathologic correlations between premortem neuropsychiatric symptoms and postmortem neurodegenerative disease markers. Through the use of immunohistochemistry and unbiased stereology, our goal is to answer questions on selective vulnerability and disease progression. Lab members are also trained to administer neuropsychology tests and see dementia patients and normal control participants weekly through the Northwestern Alzheimer's Disease Center.
Our lab is based in the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology & Alzheimer's Disease at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, a multidepartmental center that marries clinical and lab research and is one of 32 NIH-funded Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers in the country. The Mesulam Center fosters a collaborative research environment, and we work closely with other labs in the Center on a variety of research projects.
CURRENT PROJECTS
CLINICOPATHOLOGIC CORRELATIONS IN FTLD-TAU
Using the carefully collected longitudinal data from the NIH-funded Alzheimer's Disease Center housed within the Mesulam Center, we can extrapolate crucial correlations between psychiatric symptoms and density and spread of postmortem disease markers like neuropathology and microglia.
NEURONAL INTEGRITY IN SUPERAGERS
SuperAgers are individuals over age 80 who have superior memory capacity compared to their peers. We are comparing markers for neuronal integrity, such as neuron count and size, in memory-associated regions across the cognitive spectrum.
SELECTIVE VULNERABILITY IN COMORBID PATHOLOGIES
Currently, neuronal vulnerability profiles in comorbid pathologies are only deduced rather than proven. By using careful stereologic analysis and programs provided by HALO by Indica Labs, we can gain a better understanding of this phenomenon as well as colocalization. (Image provided by Indica)
