EVENT: Psychology Colloquium: Early intervention for cognitive decline and dementia: targeting modifiable risk factors (Prof Sharon Naismith, University of Sydney)

Psychology Colloquium

Tuesday 12th September 4:00-5:00pm in Bayliss MCS G.33, followed by post-talk drinks in the Psychology Courtyard (or, in bad weather, the Psychology Common Room, 2nd floor of main psychology building)

Presenter: Prof Sharon Naismith (University of Sydney)

Title: Early intervention for cognitive decline and dementia: targeting modifiable risk factors.

Abstract:

With the increasing ageing population, the number of people living with dementia will quadruple by 2050. Since there are no effective cures for dementia, there is increasing emphasis on targeting modifiable risk factors, which account for 30-50% of the total risk. In this talk, Prof Naismith will present current research and evidence linking modifiable risk factors to dementia, particularly depression, low cognitive activity, physical inactivity and sleep disturbance. This will be followed by an overview and evaluation of the available lifestyle, medical and psychological interventions that hold promise for tackling dementia risk, and the challenges we are yet to overcome.

Speaker Bio:

Prof Sharon Naismith is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and holds the Leonard P Ullman Chair at the University of Sydney. She is an NHMRC Dementia Leadership Fellow and heads the Healthy Brain Ageing Program at the Brain and Mind Centre. Her work focuses on the neuropsychiatric features of dementia, and on clinical interventions for cognitive decline including cognitive training, depression, sleep, dietary, cardiovascular, e-health and novel pharmacological interventions. She is currently a Chief Investigator on competitive grants totalling ~$11 million, including an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence, Neurosleep. She has co-authored 220 papers since 2001 and has been cited >6000 times.

Ullrich Ecker, PhD Associate Professor Director, Community and Engagement School of Psychological Science University of Western Australia +61 (0)8 6488 3257 www.uwa.edu.au/people/ullrich.ecker www.cogsciwa.com