78. Gillian Coughlan: Dementia, spatial navigation, and menopause

Gillian Coughlan is a postdoc whose work focuses on the role of spatial navigation in dementia. In this conversation, we talk about how Gillian went from Ireland to doing a PhD in the UK, different ways for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, what beta-amyloid and tau are, what spatial navigation has to do with dementia, and whether early menopause can affect women's spatial navigation performance and risk of getting dementia.

BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.

Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon

Timestamps
00:00: Playing the piano
07:13: How Gillian ended up doing her PhD with Michael Hornberger in Norwich
14:02: How to find a good mentor
16:48: Sea Hero Quest
22:28: Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease
32:37: The role of Beta-Amyloid and tau in dementia
34:41: Spatial navigation, the entorhinal cortex, and dementia
44:14: Does menopause affect spatial navigation and risk of dementia?
50:31: Book or paper more people should read
52:37: Something Gillain wishes she'd learnt sooner
55:31: Advice for PhD students and postdocs

Podcast links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Gillian's links

• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/coughlan-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/coughlan-twt

Ben's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twt

References and links

Episodes with Michael Hornberger and Hugo Spiers
https://geni.us/bjks-hornberger
https://geni.us/bjks-spiers
 
Coughlan, DeSouza, Zhukovsky, Hornberger, Grady & Buckley (2023). Spatial cognition is associated with levels of phosphorylated-tau and β-amyloid in clinically normal older adults. Neurobiology of Aging.
Coughlan, ... Buckley (2023). Association of age at menopause and hormone therapy use with tau and β-amyloid positron emission tomography. JAMA Neurology.
Coughlan, Coutrot, Khondoker, Minihane, Spiers & Hornberger (2019). Toward personalized cognitive diagnostics of at-genetic-risk Alzheimer’s disease. PNAS.
Coughlan, Laczó, Hort, Minihane & Hornberger (2018). Spatial navigation deficits—overlooked cognitive marker for preclinical Alzheimer disease?. Nature Reviews Neurology.
Eger (2017). The Choice.
Pertesi, Coughlan, Puthusseryppady, Morris & Hornberger (2019). Menopause, cognition and dementia–A review. Post reproductive health.