Nadia Borlase

BA (Hons)

PhD Candidate
New Zealand Brain Research Institute
PhD Candidate
Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury

e-mail:
nadia.borlase@nzbri.org

I am working on a large research project which focuses on the older community. We have recruited a cohort of Parkinson’s disease patients from the wider Canterbury area but results can be applicable to anyone with a progressive neurological condition. We are investigating changes in the thalamus, an integral part of the central nervous system, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). DTI is a magnetic resonance scanning procedure that gives a detailed quantitative measure of the microstructural integrity of brain regions.

Preliminary results indicate that in patients with cognitive problems (i.e. mild cognitive impairment and dementia), the thalamus shows cellular degeneration. Degeneration is greater with increasing levels of cognitive impairment, so DTI could be used as a quick, non-invasive tool to monitor the progression of cognitive changes in PD.

Click below to reveal publications, which are provided for non-commercial personal use by researchers.

Abstracts and short papers

2011

Borlase, N., Melzer, T., Livingston, L., Graham, C., Pitcher, T., MacAskill, M., Keenan, R., Anderson, T. & Dalrymple-Alford, J. (2011). Diffusion tensor imaging in the thalamus: an advanced method used to investigate cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease (Abstract). Proceedings of the 29th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, Queenstown, New Zealand, 29, Abstract #2.2. [ID#659]

Borlase, N., Melzer, T., Watts, R., MacAskill, M., Livingston, L., Graham, C., Pitcher, T., Crucian, G., Keenan, R., Anderson, T. & Dalrymple-Alford, J. (2011). Diffusion tensor imaging and fibre tracking in the thalamus – a new approach to understanding Parkinson’s disease (Abstract). Neurodegenerative Diseases, , . [ID#661]

Wang, Y., Borlase, N., Melzer, T., Watts, R., MacAskill, M., Livingston, L., Graham, C., Crucian, G., Anderson, T. & Dalrymple-Alford, J. (2011). Cognitive and neuropsychiatric correlates of medial temporal lobe integrity in Parkinson’s disease (Abstract). Neurodegenerative Diseases, , . [ID#660]

2010

Borlase, N., Melzer, T., Watts, R., Livingston, L., Graham, C., Pitcher, T., Crucian, G., Keenan, R., Anderson, T. & Dalrymple-Alford, J. (2010). Diffusion tensor imaging and fibre tracking applied in the thalamus – a new approach to understanding Parkinson’s disease (Abstract). Proceedings of the 28th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, Wanaka, New Zealand, 28, [Abstract #10.1]. [ID#658]

2009

Borlase, N., Melzer, T. R., Livingston, L., Graham, C., Keenan, R., Crucian, G., Watts, R., Anderson, T. J. & Dalrymple-Alford, J.C. (2009). Cognitive impairment and dementia in Parkinson’s disease: Montreal cognitive assessment and progressive hippocampal volume reduction (Abstract). Neurodegenerative Diseases, 6(Suppl. 1), 169. [ID#573]