Worldwide, the number of people aged 60 years and older steadily grows to a predicted 2 billion in 2050. Online interventions increasingly target lifestyle risk factors to promote healthy aging. The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate whether Internet mediated lifestyle interventions can successfully change lifestyle in people aged 50 and older. A PubMed search was conducted resulting in twelve articles, based on ten studies. The studies focused on physical activity, weight loss, nutrition, and diabetes. Nine studies used feasible interventions, with an average small to moderate effect size. The most important result is that there are multiple studies reporting positive lifestyle changes in an older population. On average, complex interventions, whether they present tailored or generic information, and online or offline comparison, are more effective than interventions with only one component. Internet mediated interventions hold great potential in implementing effective lifestyle programs, capable of reaching large populations of older persons at very low costs.
Download voor meer informatie over het NIHC de corporate folder in pdf-formaat.
In 2009, the National Initiative Brain & Cognition (NIHC) was founded: an organization with a focus on cognitive neuroscience. The objective of the present study was to explore the prior phase to the founding agreement of the NIHC. This study aimed at giving a clear and concise presentation of the history of the NIHC and the actors that have had an effect on the organization development process, i.e. the policy-making process that preceded the foundation of the NIHC. This report has been written by Anja Kroon as part of her master study “Management Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in health and life sciences”, followed at the Vrije Universiteit (VU).
Nieuwsgierig naar onze ambities? Lees hierover in de uitgave ‘Hoofdzaken – Ambities van het Nationaal Initiatief Hersenen en Cognitie’.
Although in the last decade brain activation in healthy aging and dementia was mainly studied using task- activation fMRI, there is increasing interest in task-induced decreases in brain activity, termed deactivations. These deactivations occur in the so-called default mode network (DMN). In parallel a growing number of studies focused on spontaneous, ongoing ‘baseline’ activity in the DMN. These resting state fMRI studies explored the functional connectivity in the DMN. Here we review whether normal aging and dementia affect task-induced deactivation and functional connectivity in the DMN. The majority of studies show a decreased DMN functional connectivity and task-induced DMN deactivations along a continuum from normal aging to mild cognitive impairment and to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Even subjects at risk for developing AD, either in terms of having amyloid plaques or carrying the APOE4 allele, showed disruptions in the DMN. While fMRI is a useful tool for detecting changes in DMN functional connectivity and deactivation, more work needs to be conducted to conclude whether these measures will become useful as a clinical diagnostic tool in AD. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Imaging Brain Aging and Neurodegenerative disease.
Studie door Technopolis Group in opdracht van het Nationaal Initiatief Hersenen & Cognitie. (November 2011)
-
The logo of the NIHC is available in Dutch and English. Download here the English logo in the format Jpg. Suitable for word processing, presentations and the like (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
Schematisch overzicht van de missie, doelstellingen en activiteiten van het Nationaal Initiatief Hersenen en Cognitie.
Programma van het congres Hersenen en Cognitie: Maatscahppelijke Innovatie op 1 december 2011, inclusief samenvattingen van de gepresenteerde onderzoeksprojecten en demo’s.
-
Programma bijeenkomst 1 februari, The non-conscious mind.
-
Publiekslezing van het Nationaal Initiatief Hersenen en Cognitie door professor Nick Ramsey. De lezing vond plaats in het kader van de Brain Awareness Week (12 – 18 maart 2012). Volledig verlamd en gezond van verstand, je hersenen zijn intact maar je kunt niet communiceren. En niemand die je kan helpen. Neurowetenschapper Nick Ramsey heeft een plan. Hij werkt met zijn team aan een miniatuur computer die direct met de hersenen in verbinding staat. Hij wil die neuroprothese bij verlamden gaan implanteren, zodat ze met hun gedachten apparaten leren besturen en met de buitenwereld kunnen communiceren. Tijdens de NIHC-publiekslezing geeft Ramsey de belofte van hersenimplantaten prijs. Hij is er klaar voor, bent u dat ook? Nick Ramsey is als hoogleraar cognitieve psychologie verbonden aan het Rudolf Magnus Instituut, de afdeling neurochirurgie van het Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht. Hij brengt de specifieke hersenfuncties in kaart. In 2006 ontving hij voor zijn onderzoek een prestigieuze ‘Vici-subsidie’ ter grootte van 1,25 miljoen Euro. Sinds 2009 is hij coördinator van de onderzoekspijler Gezondheid van het NIHC-onderzoeksprogramma Hersenen en Cognitie: Maatschappelijke Innovatie.