Disputas Cand.med Bente Johnsen

Avhandlingen er tilgjengelig her! The doctoral thesis! Prøveforelesning over oppgitt emne holdes kl. 10.15, samme sted: «The diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders – current practice, novel biomarkers and future perspectives».  Prøveforelesningen vil også bli strømmet/the trial lecture will also be streamed. Disputasen starter kl. 1215 Auditoriet er åpent for publikum, men vil også bli strømmet her. Opptak av disputasen vil være tilgjengelig i et døgn. The auditorium is open to the public. The defense will still be streamed here. A recording of the disputation will be available for 24 hours.

Populærvitenskapelig sammendrag av avhandlingen:

Cognitive healthy aging is important for a fulfilling life in old age. While more people suffer from dementia, studies on occurrence of new cases (incidence) in Norway are lacking. This study analysed cognitive trajectories in middle-aged and elderly adults, both those remaining cognitive healthy and those later diagnosed with dementia. We studied how risk factors can influence cognition, and calculated dementia incidence. Data was sourced from the Tromsø Study and hospital records. We found that individuals performed better on cognitive tests compared to previous generations at the same age. Furthermore, women mostly outperformed men. We also uncovered a significant decrease in age-specific dementia incidence. Physical activity improved cognitive scores, but only for those without dementia.
The study’s results suggested that cognitive capability continues to increase among middle-aged and older adults, and that age-specific dementia incidence is decreasing.

Hovedveileder
Professor Henrik Schirmer, Institutt for klinisk medisin, Det Medisinske fakultet, Universitetet i Oslo, Campus Ahus.

Biveiledere
Førsteamanuensis Ieva Martinaityte, Institutt for klinisk medisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.

Bedømmelseskomité
Ph.d. Hanneke Rhodius-Meester, Amsterdam University Medical Centers - 1. opponent.
Ph.d. Bjørn Erik Neerland, Oslo Universitetssykehus - 2. opponent.
Professor Hans-Olav Melberg, Institutt for samfunnsmedisin, UiT Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komité.

Disputasleder: Professor Rasmus Goll, Institutt for klinisk medisin, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.