Marshall Dalton
Neuroscience Research Australia/University of NSW
Rotary Club of Glenhaven
The Ron Nichol Dementia Scholarship
2010
Marshall Dalton is a Ph.D. candidate in cognitive neuroscience at the University of New South Wales, faculty of Medicine.
Marshall has been employed as a research assistant at the Neuroscience Research Australia since 2007. As a member of the ageing and neurodegeneration research community at ience Research Australia he has been investigating potential mechanisms underlying the recent observation that individuals who engage in more complex mental activity throughout their lifetime have a reduced risk of developing dementia. He has been conducting neuropathological analyses in an attempt to identify how complex mental activity may reduce an individual’s risk of developing dementia. He is also deeply involved in investigating neurogenesis, the process by which neurons are created in the brain.
He completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree with a major in Psychology in 2005. During the honours year research component, he investigated a reportedly cognitive enhancing herb named Bacopa monniera (Brahmi) and the potential neural mechanisms behind its cognitive enhancing effects. He also focussed on the neuropsychology of emotion and the effects of drugs on the brain.
While an undergraduate student he worked as a counsellor for high school children involved in criminal behaviour and upon completing his degree in 2005 he gained a position as a probation/parole officer helping facilitate the reintegration of individuals into society upon release from Jail.
Outside of the Psychology and research domains, Marshall has lived and worked in Japan for a total of three and a half years as a sister city relationship liaison officer and an English teacher in primary schools.
While in Japan he enjoyed snowboarding and mountain climbing and studied many aspects of Japanese culture as well as the language which he speaks fluently.
On weekends he enjoys playing soccer, karate and aikido, fossil hunting, relaxing with a good book, snorkelling and SCUBA diving and spending time with friends and family.
SUMMARY OF PROJECT:
Characterization of episodic memory deficits in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
As the general population gets older, it is accompanied by an increase in individuals at risk of developing dementia. Early and accurate diagnosis of these individuals is critical so that appropriate management strategies can be established. Current clinical tools lack sensitivity to differentiate among dementia subtypes reliably increasing the risk of misdiagnosis. Such misdiagnoses are costly for the individuals concerned, their families and society in general. The aim of this project is to develop clinical tests that will improve diagnostic accuracy and, in turn will lead to relevant treatment options for individuals in the early stages of dementia.
Report of decline in memory is the most common complaint of older adults and may be a sign of dementia. Objective evidence of memory deficits is the core clinical sign of Alzheimer’s disease (AD): the most common type of dementia. This deficit affects mostly episodic memory, which is our ability to lay down new memories for specific events and retrieve these memories at a later stage (for example, what I had for dinner last night). Disturbance of episodic memory is also present in frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a type of dementia affecting different brain regions and with a different pathological mechanism to AD. Current clinical tests only provide global measures of episodic memory and are therefore unable to differentiate the memory deficits in these two groups reliably. This is despite the fact that episodic memory deficits in AD and FTD are likely to be caused by a breakdown in different aspects of episodic memory.
The first objective of this project will be to develop and validate new tests of episodic memory. These tests will measure different aspects of episodic memory that are mediated by two brain regions central to episodic memory: the medial temporal lobe and the prefrontal cortex. The medial temporal lobe is mostly affected in AD, whereas the prefrontal cortex is the site of most pathology in FTD. Once the tests are validated, the second objective will be to use these tests to map episodic memory in AD and FTD and identify the profile of deficits that are unique to each disorder in order to improve diagnosis.