William Jagust

Research Interests

Brain imaging in aging and dementia using MRI and PET techniques.

Research Summary

My laboratory is engaged in the study of biochemical, anatomic and structural brain changes that occur with aging and the transition to dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. Using structural magnetic resonance imaging, we are developing new techniques and applying existing ones for mapping anatomical changes that occur with brain aging. Using positron emission tomography (PET) we are looking at changes in neurochemistry such as how the dopamine system declines with age and how these changes affect physiology and behavior. We are also applying PET techniques for the detection of the amyloid protein in the brain. The key questions we are studying include how to diagnose and predict the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease, and how to differentiate molecular, biochemical and structural changes that are part of normal aging from those that are part of a disease process.

Selected Publications

DeCarli C, Fletcher E, Ramey V, Harvey D, Jagust WJ.  Anatomical mapping of white matter hyperintensities (WMH): Exploring relationships between periventricular WMH, deep WMH and total WMH burden.  Stroke 36:50-55, 2005.

Nordahl CW, Ranganath C, Yonelinas AP, DeCarli C, Fletcher E, Jagust WJ.  White matter changes compromise prefrontal cortex function in healthy elderly individuals.  Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18:418-429, 2006.

Jagust WJ, Gitcho A, Sun F, Kuczynski B, Mungas D, Haan M.  Brain imaging evidence of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease in normal aging.  Annals of Neurology, 59:673-681, 2006.

Sun FT, Schriber RA, Greenia JM, He J, Gitcho A, Jagust WJ.  Automated template-based PET region of interest analyses in the aging brain.  Neuroimage, 34:608-617, 2007.