Haakon Ramsland Hol’s PhD defense
Haakon Ramsland Hol defended his PhD on December 16, 2022, with the thesis: “Brain plasticity after cognitive intervention in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) evaluated by multimodal MR imaging in a randomized, controlled trial.”
Published:
In his dissertation, Haakon investigated whether the brain can be trained like a muscle in individuals with mild cognitive impairment.
One of the main findings is new knowledge about the use of age-adjusted atrophy scoring systems in the MCI population. Furthermore, he found that adaptive and non-adaptive brain training do not affect the cerebral cortex differently, but adaptive training has a positive long-term effect on a crossing point (sagittal stratum) for nerve pathways between brain centers and the cortex. Additionally, the lack of substance loss in both groups can be interpreted as a training effect in MCI, where substance loss is expected. New knowledge was also found indicating that carriers of LMX1a-AA may have better neuroplasticity and thus respond better to training.
The results from this research provide increased understanding of which non-pharmacological treatment methods are effective for MCI patients. The PhD project provides important information that LMX1a is a potential factor influencing neuroplasticity, and that clinical atrophy scoring systems are valuable in MCI as well, not only in dementia.