Dr Susana Muñoz Maniega
Dr Muñoz Maniega in her research employs diffusion MRI for the measurement of white matter integrity and for the reconstruction of white matter pathways, the “wiring” in the brain.
Susana's major interest is the use of quantitative MRI to study in vivo the effects of cerebrovascular disease, and ageing in general, on the brain's white matter. She processes and analyses the imaging data from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936), a longitudinal study of cognitive ageing.
LBC1936 has a wide range of variables: genome-wide genotyping, demographics, psycho-social and lifestyle factors, cognitive functions, medical history and examinations, biomarkers (from blood and urine) and a detailed structural MRI brain scan. The imaging side of the project has a specific focus on finding how the white matter of the brain becomes damaged and what relationship white matter damage has with age-related cognitive decline.
Dr Muñoz Maniega also collaborates on the MRI image processing and analysis of other research projects in cerebrovascular disease, such as the Mild Stroke Study 3 and INVESTIGATE@SVDs.
Key publications
Muñoz Maniega, S., Meijboom, R., Chappell, F. M., Valdés Hernández, M. del C., Starr, J. M., Bastin, M. E., Deary, I. J. and Wardlaw, J. M. Spatial Gradient of Microstructural Changes in Normal-Appearing White Matter in Tracts Affected by White Matter Hyperintensities in Older Age. Front. Neurol. 10, 784 (2019).
Publication link: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31404147
Muñoz Maniega, S., Bastin, M., Deary, I., Wardlaw, J. and Clayden, J. Reference Tracts and Generative Models for Brain White Matter Tractography. J. Imaging 4, 8 (2018).
Publication link: www.mdpi.com/2313-433X/4/1/8
Related links
Dr Susana Muñoz Maniega research profile
Dr Susana Muñoz Maniega list of publications
Mild Stroke Study 3 study website
