Laura Ekblad
MD, PhD
llekbl@utu.fi ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5863-8088(external) |
Areas of expertise
positron emission tomography; Alzheimer´s Disease; Insulin resistance; cognition; memory disorders
positron emission tomography; Alzheimer´s Disease; Insulin resistance; cognition; memory disorders
Research community or research topic
Specialist in Geriatrics and Family Medicine. Senior researcher, Turku Alzheimer Imaging Group, Turku PET Centre.
Specialist in Geriatrics and Family Medicine. Senior researcher, Turku Alzheimer Imaging Group, Turku PET Centre.
Research
My research focuses on early risk factors for memory disorders, especially Alzheimer´s disease. I am particularly interested in the associations between metabolic risk factors (insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, obesity) and cognitive decline.
Our lab uses multimodal neuroimaging (PET-imaging, MRI) combined with blood and CSF biomarkers and cognitive testing to explore the association between different risk factors and early cerebral changes of memory disorders.
I also run a project that examines possible cardiac side effects of anti-dementia agents in elderly memory clinic patients.
Teaching
Publications
- Brain Glucose Metabolism in Health, Obesity, and Cognitive Decline-Does Insulin Have Anything to Do with It? A Narrative Review (2021)
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Episodic memory and cortical amyloid pathology: PET study in cognitively discordant twin pairs (2021)
- Neurobiology of Aging
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Four subgroups based on tau levels in Alzheimer's disease observed in two independent cohorts (2021)
- Alzheimer's Research and Therapy
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Oral Glucose Tolerance Test Predicts Episodic Memory Decline: A 10-Year Population-Based Follow-up Study (2021)
- Diabetes Care
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Proteomic correlates of cortical thickness in cognitively normal individuals with normal and abnormal cerebrospinal fluid beta-amyloid1-42 (2021)
- Neurobiology of Aging
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - The Obesity Risk SNP (rs17782313) near the MC4R Gene Is Not Associated with Brain Glucose Uptake during Insulin Clamp-A Study in Finns (2021)
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Effects of age, BMI and sex on the glial cell marker TSPO - a multicentre [C-11]PBR28 HRRT PET study (2019)
- European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Insuliiniresistenssi, aivot ja muistisairausriski (2019)
- Duodecim
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Intranasal naloxone rapidly occupies brain mu-opioid receptors in human subjects (2019)
- Neuropsychopharmacology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Midlife Insulin Resistance as a Predictor for Late-Life Cognitive Function and Cerebrovascular Lesions (2019)
- Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Albuminuria and Microalbuminuria as Predictors of Cognitive Performance in a General Population: An 11-Year Follow-Up Study (2018)
- Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
(Other publication) - Albuminuria and Microalbuminuria as Predictors of Cognitive Performance in a General Population: An 11-Year Follow-Up Study (2018)
- Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Insulin resistance, cognition, and brain amyloid accumulation : an epidemiological and a positron emission tomography study (2018) Ekblad Laura
(G5 Article dissertation ) - Keski-iän elämäntavat - ikkuna muistisairauden kehittymiselle? (2018)
- Erikoislääkäri
(D1 Article in a professional journal) - Midlife insulin resistance, APOE genotype, and late-life brain amyloid accumulation (2018)
- Neurology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Insulin Resistance Predicts Cognitive Decline: An 11-Year Follow-up of a Nationally Representative Adult Population Sample (2017)
- Diabetes Care
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Response to Comment by Ayubi and Safiri. Insulin Resistance Predicts Cognitive Decline: An 11-Year Follow-up of a Nationally Representative Adult Population Sample. Diabetes Care 2017;40:751-758 (2017)
- Diabetes Care
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Insulin resistance is associated with poorer verbal fluency performance in women (2015)
- Diabetologia
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)