Probing the noradrenergic system in ageing and dementia

Host: Mira Erhart

Prof. Hämmerer leads the Developmental Psychology Lab at the University of Innsbruck. She studied Psychology at the University of Trier, University of Paris X Nanterre, and University of Freiburg before writing her Diploma thesis with Markus Ullsperger on the topic of EEG correlates during performance monitoring at the MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig. Starting with her PhD at the MPI for Human Development in Berlin with Ulman Lindenberger and Shu-Chen Li, Prof. Hämmerer uses neurocognitive methods to understand the development of cognitive functions across the lifespan.

Prof. Hämmerer's post-doc studies took her to the Technical University of Dresden, the University College London (Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience and the Welcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Magdeburg. They have enabled her to expand her skills in magnetic resonance imaging and in the physiological and cognitive assessment of aging and dementia. The developmental psychology lab maintains close collaborative relationships with the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience in London and the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience and Dementia Research in Magdeburg.

Dorothea Hämmerer is co-founder of the Locus Coeruleus Imaging Meeting, which brings together clinicians, animal researchers, physicists and cognitive neuroscientists to try to better understand the role of the noradrenergic locus coeruleus in neurodegenerative diseases. Her research was recognized with the Brenda Milner Award and a Senior Research Fellowship from Alzheimer Research UK.