Applications are open

Apply here

Deadline extended: 8 June 2020

The CAJAL Training Programme is monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely. We currently expect the course to proceed as planned, and will inform all applicants in case that situation changes. More information here.

The normal aging process is associated with reduced performance on cognitive tasks that require one to quickly process or transform information to make a decision, including measures of speed of processing, executive cognitive function, working and relational memories. Structural and functional alterations in the brain correlate with these age-related cognitive changes, such as loss of synapses, and dysfunction of neuronal networks. It is crucial to develop new approaches that consider the whole neuroanatomical, endocrine, immunological, vascular and cellular changes impacting on cognition.

This 3-week course will cover the fundamentals of cognitive aging -including inter-individual differences, cognitive and brain reserve and risk factors- and highlight the newest functional imaging methods to study human brain function. The Faculty will share the state-of-the-art molecular, optical, computational, electrophysiological, behavioural and epidemiological approaches available for studying the aging brain in diverse model systems. The Students will learn the potential and limitations of these methods, through practical experience in a combination of lectures addressing aging in both humans and animal models and hands-on-projects. They will acquire sufficient practical experience to model, design and interpret experiments and brainstorm on novel technologies and hypotheses to explore the aging of the brain using more integrative and creative approaches.