Dr. Andrei Irimia: Do These Residents of the Bolivian Amazon Hold the Secret to Brain Health?

On Thursday, March 23rd, 10:00 a.m. PT/1:00 p.m. ET USC quantitative neuroscientist, gerontologist, and biomedical engineer Dr. Andrei Irimia joins Being Patient Live Talks to share his research on brain aging in indigenous populations.

In his latest research, Irimia and his colleagues at USC studied the brains of adult members of the Tsimané and Mosetén indigenous community in Bolivia — a population with the lowest rates of heart and brain disease ever reported.

The researchers used CT scans to measure brain volume by age. They also measured their study participants’ body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and other indicators of overall health. The team’s findings offer clues about the levels of food consumption and exercise that promote healthy brain aging, while lowering the risk of disease.

Irimia’s research employs computational biology and multimodal imaging to study brain aging in health and disease. He recently spoke with Being Patient about his brain aging research with AI. In this upcoming conversation with Being Patient EIC Deborah Kan, he’ll share insights into the latest findings. Tune in this Thursday on Being Patient’s Facebook page to get more insights on this research — and what it could mean for brain health.