Elizabeth Head, M.A., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Toronto, 1997
Office: 203 Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
Tel: (859) 257-1412 Ext 481
The goals of our research are to identify interventions that may prevent the onset and/or progression of Alzheimer disease and thus promote healthy brain aging. To do this our lab tests hypotheses using a canine model of human brain aging with a focus on testing combination treatment approaches, each approach targeting different pathological pathways associated with aging or Alzheimer disease. Canines naturally develop learning and memory impairments with age as well as similar types of brain pathology. Our studies are multidisciplinary and extend from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to testing cognitive function (learning and memory) and neurobiological studies (anatomical, genomics and proteomics). We currently are testing the hypothesis that vaccination with beta-amyloid peptide when combined with behavioral enrichment will lead to significant improvements in cognition and reductions in neuropathology in aged canines.
In parallel with studies that seek to identify new treatment options for healthy brain aging we are also characterizing changes in cognition, blood protein levels and white matter changes by magnetic resonance imaging in middle aged and older adults with Down syndrome. People with Down syndrome are at high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease particularly after the age of 40 years due to their extra copy of chromosome 21. This NIH funded study is testing the hypothesis that frontal dysfunction may be an early sign of transition to dementia in adults with Down syndrome. In the future we hope to use promising treatment strategies developed in animal model systems and translating our research into human clinical trials for people with Down syndrome.
Canine Model
Cotman, CW, Head, E. (2008). The canine (dog) model of human aging and disease: dietary, environmental and immunotherapy approaches. J. Alzheimers Dis. 15(4): 685-707.
Head, E. (2008). Oxidative Damage and Cognitive Dysfunction: Antioxidant Treatments to Promote Healthy Brain Aging. Neurochemical Research, August 6: Epub.
Head, E., Pop, V., Vasilevko, V., Hill, M., Saing, T., Sarsoza, F., Nistor, M., Christie, L., Milton, S., Glabe, C., Barrett, E., Cribbs, D. (2008). A 2-Year Study with Fibrillar Aβ Immunization in Aged Canines: Effects on Cognitive Function and Brain Aβ. Journal of Neuroscience, 28: 3555-3566.
Opii,W.O., Joshi , G., Head, E., Milgram, N.W., Muggenburg, B.A., Klein, J.B., Pierce, W.M., Cotman, C.W., Butterfield, D.A.. (2008). Proteomic Identification of Brain Proteins in the Canine Model of Human Aging Following a Long-Term Treatment with Antioxidants and a Program of Behavioral Enrichment: Relevance to Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurobiology of Aging, 29(1): 51-70.
Milgram, N.W., Siwak-Tapp, C.T., Araujo, J., Head, E. (2006). Neuroprotective effects of cognitive enrichment. Ageing Research Reviews, 5: 354-369.
Tapp, P.D., Head, K., Head, E., Milgram, N.W., Muggenburg, B.A., Su, M.-Y. (2006). Application of an Automated Voxel-based Morphometry Technique to Assess Regional Gray and White Matter Brain Atrophy in a Canine Model of Aging. NeuroImage, 29(1): 234-244.
Milgram, N.W., Head, E., Zicker, SC., Ikeda-Douglas, C.J., Murphey, H. Muggenburg, B. Siwak, C., Tapp, D, Cotman, CW (2005). Learning ability in aged beagle dogs is preserved by behavioral enrichment and dietary fortification: A two-year longitudinal study. Neurobiology of Aging. 26:77-90.
Tapp, P.D., Siwak, C.T., Gao, F.Q., Choui, J.Y., Black, S.E., Head, E., Muggenburg, B.A., Cotman, C.W., Milgram, N.W., Su, M.-Y. 2004). Frontal lobe volume, function and Aβ Pathology in a canine model of aging. Journal of Neuroscience, 24(38): 8205-8213.
Head, E. (2010). Neurobiology of the Aging Dog. Age (Dordr), Epub Sept 16, 2010.
Dowling, A.L., Head, E. (2011) Antioxidants in the Canine Model of Human Aging. BBA - Molecular Basis of Disease.
Down syndrome
Lott, I.T., Doran, E., Nguyen, V., Tournay, A., Head, E., Gillen, D.L. (2011). Down Syndrome and Dementia: a Randomized, Controlled Trial of Antioxidant Supplementation. American Journal of Medical Genetics A., 155A(8): 1939-1948. PMID: 21739598.
Cenini, G., Dowling, A.L.S., Beckett. T., Barone, E., Mancuso, C., Murphy, M.P., Levine, H., Lott, I.T., Schmitt, F.A., Butterfield, D.A., Head, E. (2011). Association between frontal cortex oxidative damage and beta-amyloid as a function of age in Down syndrome. BBA - Molecular Basis of Disease, Oct 8; [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 22004509.
Holler, C.J., Webb, R.L., Laux, A.L., Beckett, T.L., Niedowicz, D.M., Ahmed, R.R., Liu, Y., Simmons, C.R., Martin, S.B., Dowling, A.L., Spinelli, A., Khurgel, M., Estus, S., Head, E., Hersh, L.B., and Murphy, M.P. BACE2 increases in Human Neurodegenerative Disease. American Journal of Pathology 2012 Jan;180(1):337-50.
Head, E. Doran, E., Nistor, M., Schmitt, F.A., Haier, R.J., and Lott, I.T. (2011). Plasma Aβ as a function of age, level of intellectual disability and presence of dementia in Down syndrome. Journal of Alzheimer’s disease, 23(3): 391-398. PMID: 21116050.
Additional Publications linked at NCBI's PubMed
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