# Longitudinal changes in white matter integrity predicting cognitive changes in reasoning and vocabulary abilities

> **NIH NIH K01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $124,551

## Abstract

Candidate: This candidate's long-term career goal is to become an independently funded researcher with an
established laboratory conducting multimodal neuroimaging studies to examine the neurobiological
mechanisms of aging. Dr. Gazes possesses strong technical skills and a solid background in the cognitive
psychology of aging. Her path to independence would be accelerated through achieving short term goals: (1)
Gain a comprehensive understanding of diffusion tensor imaging and T1 analysis, from basic preprocessing to
sophisticated statistical techniques; (2) Become proficient in performing advanced multimodal neuroimaging
analysis such as awFC, BSMac, and applying SVC to high-dimensional data; (3) Design and execute a
longitudinal imaging study; implement advanced longitudinal statistical analysis techniques; (4) Receive
training in administering and analyzing neuropsychological testing; (5) Learn theories and current state of
knowledge in the neurobiology of aging; (6) Understand the inter-relationships among medical comorbidity,
health, and psychosocial factors with neural and cognitive variables; (7) Gain exposure to multigradient T2
relaxometry and animal research practices; and (8) Receive extensive training in the responsible conduct of
research. These goals will be accomplished with the support of the mentoring committee consisting of Dr.
DuBois Bowman as my primary mentor, Dr. Yaakov Stern as a co-mentor, and Drs. Dongrong Xu, Christian
Habeck, Edward Huey, and Peter Balsam as consultants. The plan for accomplishing the short term goals
consists of direct readings and weekly meeting with Dr. Bowman, applying advanced techniques on collected
data under my mentoring committee's guidance, attending courses, workshops, seminars, and conferences,
independent collection of longitudinal data, and applying for an R01 grant award.
Research: Performance on a number of cognitive abilities such as reasoning has been shown to decline in
older adulthood. However, factual knowledge such as vocabulary remains relatively intact, and actually
increases with age. If aging is a brain-wide phenomenon, one would expect cognitive abilities to worsen with
aging. The maintenance of vocabulary and other crystallized knowledge is surprising given the widespread
neural decline commonly associated with aging. Understanding how such divergent phenomenon can be
supported by a single neural system offers exciting translational potential. Examining the structural/axonal
and functional differences between the two cognitive domains with divergent maturational processes may
reveal the differential mechanisms for aging decline versus aging maintenance. In the following proposal, Dr.
Gazes will use cross-sectional and longitudinal study designed to test the hypothesis that the functional
network of brain regions and the integrity of gray and white matter associated with vocabulary are well
maintained with aging, while substantial decline occurs for the functional and gray and...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9936100
- **Project number:** 5K01AG051777-05
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** YUNGLIN GAZES
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $124,551
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-15 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9936100

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9936100, Longitudinal changes in white matter integrity predicting cognitive changes in reasoning and vocabulary abilities (5K01AG051777-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9936100. Licensed CC0.

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