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🇧🇷🇮🇪 It was an honour to welcome to the University of Limerick, from 17-23 June, Drs Sheila Alvim, Yadira Morejón, Rogério Tosta and Gioconda Maritza, researchers from ELSA-Brasil (the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health) and the Federal University of Bahia (Brazil).
ELSA-Brasil is one of the largest and most influential cohort studies in Latin America, following more than 15,000 adults over time to investigate the social, behavioural and biological determinants of chronic disease. The richness and longitudinal depth of its data offer a unique opportunity to study brain health and cognition in the adult population.
Our lab is proud to collaborate on a joint project led by Dr Alvim and funded by CNPq (Brazil), examining how diet and ethnicity influence cognition and functional capacity in women during the menopausal transition, a period of profound endocrine change that remains underexplored from a brain health perspective.
During the visit, the group met with UL researchers to explore new collaborations using the ELSA dataset and to deepen the scientific exchange between our institutions. We came away from these days with renewed ideas and even stronger ties between Brazil and Ireland. 🧠🔬
#ELSABrasil #NeuroendocrineHealth #WomensBrainHealth #UL #UFBA #BrainAging
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Limerick UL Research
💊 Do older adults really need supplements? The answer is more nuanced than many headlines suggest.
Dietary supplements are often marketed as a shortcut to healthy ageing. But evidence shows that for many older adults, the key question is not which supplement should I take? It's do I actually need one?
🔬 The evidence suggests that:
• 𝗩𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝟭𝟮 supplementation may be important when deficiency is present, particularly in individuals taking medications that impair absorption.
• 𝗩𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗗 can be beneficial for those at risk of deficiency, limited sun exposure, or osteoporosis.
• 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻 intake remains one of the most overlooked aspects of healthy ageing, playing a crucial role in maintaining muscle mass, strength, and independence.
• 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: excessive supplementation can interact with medications or even lead to toxicity.
Perhaps the most important message is this: healthy ageing starts with food, movement, and evidence-based care, not with the supplement promising the loudest results.
While neuroscience is at the heart of our work, we are equally interested in how systemic factors such as nutrition and metabolism influence brain health and ageing.
Read More Here
#HealthyAgeing #Nutrition #Geriatrics #EvidenceBasedMedicine #Supplements #AgeingResearch #NutritionScience
We are delighted to welcome Sarah to our lab for her MSc research project!
Sarah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Agricultural Science Teaching, during which she developed a strong interest in genetics, microbiology, and human biology, leading her to pursue neuroscience research.
Her MSc project will investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying brain ageing and Alzheimer’s disease, with a particular focus on how oestrogen regulates these processes in postmenopausal women. Her work will contribute to our ongoing efforts to understand the biological pathways driving neurodegeneration and brain resilience during ageing.
Outside the lab, she enjoys going to the gym and staying active.
We are excited to have her in the team and look forward to her contributions over the coming months.
#Neuroscience #AlzheimersResearch #BrainResearch #Neurodegeneration #MScResearch
The brain has its own estrogen factory, and aromatase is the enzyme that keeps it running.
Aromatase (CYP19A1) converts androgens, such as testosterone, into estrogens and is expressed in brain cells including neurons and astrocytes.
Why is this important? Locally produced estrogen supports neuroprotection, synaptic plasticity, and helps regulate neuroinflammation.
When aromatase activity declines with aging, menopause, or metabolic stress, local estrogen production falls. This may contribute to increased neuroinflammation, reduced neuronal resilience, and a greater risk of neurodegenerative disease.
Many questions remain: How is aromatase regulated in different brain cell types, and could targeting brain aromatase offer new neuroprotective therapies?
#Neuroscience #Astrocytes #BrainHealth #Neuroinflammation #Aromatase #Estrogen
We are delighted to share that our research has been featured in Silicon Republic in an article exploring how hormones influence brain health and why understanding these mechanisms is crucial for healthy ageing and the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.
The piece highlights an area that has become central to our research programme: understanding how hormonal changes, particularly during menopause, affect brain function, mitochondrial health, inflammation and vulnerability to disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Our goal is to identify new opportunities for precision medicine approaches that take sex and endocrine ageing into account.
For many years, the relationship between hormones and the brain was underestimated. We now know that hormonal signalling plays a fundamental role in metabolism, cognition, mood, resilience and neuroprotection, opening exciting possibilities for developing more effective and personalised interventions.
Thank you to Silicon Republic for helping bring attention to this important area of research and to the many colleagues, students and collaborators who contribute to advancing our understanding of brain health.
#BrainHealth #Neuroscience #Neuroendocrinology #MenopauseResearch #AlzheimersDisease #PrecisionMedicine #HealthyAgeing #ResearchIreland #UniversityOfLimerick
We all learned that phrase in school: but the real story is far more complex.
In the brain, mitochondria sit at the center of everything: energy production, cellular survival, inflammation, and even how neurons age. When mitochondrial function begins to decline, the effects can ripple outward, contributing to cognitive decline, neuroinflammation, and increased vulnerability to disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
What’s often overlooked is that mitochondria do not function independently from the rest of our biology. Sex hormones directly influence mitochondrial activity in the brain. They help regulate energy metabolism, reduce oxidative stress, and protect neurons from cellular damage.
As hormone levels change with age, particularly during menopause, mitochondrial function may shift as well. These changes could help explain why neurodegenerative diseases develop and progress differently across individuals.
Understanding the connection between hormones and brain energy metabolism is one of the many questions our lab is exploring. 🔬
#Neuroscience #BrainHealth #Mitochondria #Neurodegeneration #Hormones #Aging
