Dr. Pa has proposed using brain imaging to study how amyloid accumulation in specific brain regions affects brain function, focusing on how specific brain regions exchange signals with other brain regions. She and her colleagues plan to study people who have early Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment, a condition that sometimes precedes Alzheimer’s. They will also study people who are at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease because of their genes.

The goal of the research is to determine how genetic risk factors and amyloid deposits in specific brain regions affect brain function observed on imaging. The results of this research may provide scientists with tools that can be used to monitor disease progression or response to treatment.