Ashleigh Barrett-Young
@ashleighby.bsky.social
Life course brain health researcher | Dunedin Study, University of Otago, Aotearoa 🇳🇿 Asking: what do early life experiences tell us about ageing brains—and can we intervene?
The actual harsh truth about MAHA is that it is an anti-vaxx, anti-science, pro-diarrhea conspiracy movement. It cloaks its arguments in abstractions about "big pharma" and "free speech" to generate *the exact op-ed The Atlantic keeps publishing*. Movements like this need to be fought, not placated.
I was reminded of this today. From 2021, and still bad science is getting trotted out to justify bigotry. Personally, if you need to be conscious of someone's gender to value them as a person you need to take a long look at yourself. You're not a good person. From: scientists.org.nz/press-releases
Early detection is one of the most active frontiers in Alzheimer's research right now — and I think we're at a real turning point. 🧵 🧪🧠📈
🔔New paper alert! 🧠 What if biological signs of Alzheimer’s disease are already detectable in midlife—before standard tests pick anything up? We looked at this using plasma pTau181, a blood biomarker linked to AD. doi.org/10.1007/s113... #AgingResearch
Plasma pTau181 is associated with subjective cognitive concerns but not objective cognitive decline or structural brain integrity measures in midlife - GeroScience
Although plasma pTau181 has been shown to accurately discriminate patients with Alzheimer’s disease from healthy older adults, there are few studies of plasma biomarkers among middle-aged populations. Given the potential utility of plasma AD biomarkers such as pTau181 in screening for disease risk, examining pTau181 in a middle-aged cohort without AD is important for future implementation. The objectives of this study were to characterise plasma pTau181 in a middle-aged birth cohort aged 45 years and to investigate associations with early indicators of dementia risk. Participants were members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal study of 1037 people born in New Zealand in 1972–1973. Plasma pTau181, self-reported cognitive concerns, MRI-based brain structure, and DunedinPACE (an epigenetic biomarker of biological ageing) were measured at age 45; cognition was measured in childhood and age 45. Plasma pTau181 concentrations at age 45 (n = 854, 49% female) were associated with self-reported cognitive concerns (β = 0.09, p = .008); however, no significant associations were observed with objective cognitive decline, worse structural brain integrity, or biological ageing. Higher plasma pTau181 was associated with self-reported cognitive concerns at age 45, but not objective AD-related measures. The association of plasma pTau181 and self-reported cognitive concerns in this cohort suggests that AD pathology may begin to accumulate by age 45 and may be associated with subtle changes in cognition that are not at objectively measurable levels. Graphical Abstract
doi.org
We're looking for a postdoctoral fellow to work at the intersection of ecology and data science 🧪 www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/postdo... #movingtonewzealand #movingtonz
Postdoctoral fellowship in ecology and data science
Join the Centre for Sustainability Research at the University of Otago as a postdoctoral research fellow in ecology and data science.
tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
It's getting harder and harder to convince myself that NZ is the right place to be. It feels like today's NZ is fundamentally different to the country I grew up in, and add in the challenges of trying to do world-class research on the smell of an oily rag - why stay? www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...
This isn’t the New Zealand I know any more
Beneath the knee jerk wistfulness, there’s a deep worry; we’ve somehow betrayed a foundational idea of being Kiwi.
stuff.co.nz
The human face of science funding cuts – Expert Reaction
The human face of science funding cuts - Expert Reaction - Science Media Centre
Kiwi scientists share how funding cuts have impacted their research and careers, in a new report from the Save Science Coalition. Many of the profiled researchers have been made redundant or have moved...
sciencemediacentre.co.nz
Here's a novel thought: listen to the experts and maybe try to employ them too? "The government's own science system advisory group had warned them that the lack of investment in science, innovation and technology is playing a role in our sluggish productivity." Bye bye NZ Inc, hello brain drain
Cate Macinnis-Ng@loraxcate.bsky.social · 5mo agoBioeconomy Science Institute to cut 134 jobs following restructure a few months ago www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent
When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
theguardian.com
I'm sure it's totally coincidental that the AoNZ government's changes to the Marsden Fund have been followed by successful applications led by female investigators dropping from 55% to 33%, and successful applications led by Māori investigators dropping from 13% to 5%. 🫠 🧪
Information on the 2025 Marsden Fund round
Information about the number of funded proposals in the 2025 Marsden Fund round broken down by research area and institution, also including gender and ethnicity data
royalsociety.org.nz
Rewatching Homeland and just realised that the only piece of evidence that they have on the guy (a su1cide video*) wouldn't be enough today because of AI fakeries 🙃 *it's not a spoiler, this series is from years ago, don't @ me
I'm not 100% sure but I think Newsroom may have omitted a 'f*cking' from my phrase "Do these people read the news?"
Incredible, important work from the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies: thespinoff.co.nz/books/25-09-...
‘Poverty in Aotearoa is not accidental’: How our systems deliberately keep people poor
All of this is avoidable – so how do we fix what's broken?
thespinoff.co.nz
we👏need👏the👏humanities👏more👏than👏ever
Nicholas Scott Baker@renhistorian.bsky.social · 12mo ago“Our system of higher education cannot do these crucial things with leaders who undervalue the humanities, who fail to broaden our approach to the liberal arts beyond the scientistic vision of higher education pioneered in the 19th century.” www.chronicle.com/article/they...
Using data from the Dunedin Study's age 45 assessment, researchers in an Otago study, co-led by Dr Ashleigh Barrett-Young, found that blood vessels at the back of the eye can indicate early signs of dementia. 👁️ Read more here: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...
Eye health linked to dementia risk
A new University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka study has found a link between our eye health and dementia.
otago.ac.nz
I love a weird fish, so it's the Blobfish that's got my vote in the #FishOfTheYear 🐟 they sit on the seafloor and wait for food to climb into their mouths and that's the kind of vibe I aspire to 🐠 Vote here! www.mountainstosea.org.nz/fishoftheyear/
New paper out!🚨 We found that retinal microvasculature (the blood vessels in your eye) was associated with risk of Alzheimer's disease or another dementia. This is another step towards being able to tell your risk of dementia from an eye scan! 1/4 🧪 #HealthPsychology doi.org/10.1177/1387...
Measures of retinal health successfully capture risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias at midlife - Ashleigh Barrett-Young, Aaron Reuben, Avshalom Caspi, Kirsten Cheyne, David Ireland, Jes...
Background Identification of at-risk individuals who would benefit from early intervention for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) is critical as n...
doi.org
New PIs! What are your tips, tricks, and tools for setting up a lab? #academia #WomenInSTEM #science 🧪
Is this where academic Twitter has gone? I miss the supportive and helpful vibes of yore!
