Healthy Brain Ageing Program | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

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Healthy Brain Ageing Program

Supporting healthy ageing and reducing the risk of dementia via lifestyle approaches
Tackling one of our biggest health challenges

More than 400,000 Australians live with dementia. With no known cure, we need to better understand the underlying mechanisms driving age-related cognitive decline and dementia.

Lifestyle a critical factor

We know that 30-50% of the risk for developing dementia can be attributed to our lifestyle choices. Using cutting-edge neuroscience techniques, like MRI and EEG, we can now better understand the potential benefit of lifestyle and other factors on brain health.

Research to reduce risk and change lives

We use the latest neurobiological research to:

  1. investigate what happens in the brain during ageing to support people to maximise brain health, and
  2. support people to reduce their risk through lifestyle and behaviour change support.

We seek to reduce the risk of people developing dementia and find new ways to slow the progression of neurodegenerative disease.

Participate in our research

Older man giving a high five in the gym
Psychology of habits for healthy brain ageing

We're investigating how we form habits that could reduce dementia risk and our flexibility with them.

Seeking adults aged 60-90 years who are not living with dementia

Elderly client with clinician
Neuroscience of habits for healthy ageing

We're investigating how people form, then change, a new habit and which brain regions are involved, to support healthy ageing.

Seeking expressions of interest from adults aged 18-30 or 60-85 years.

More research projects

Unlocking the potential of light therapy for brain health

Have you ever wondered how light can improve brain health? We're exploring this through the innovative use of Photobiomodulation Therapy.

Recruitment is now closed

About us

The Healthy Brain Ageing Clinic research group addresses a previous gap in healthy brain ageing research. We combine cutting-edge cognitive neuroscience with psychology and lifestyle, to gain a more full picture of dementia risk. The team works with the community to maximise healthy ageing and reduce the impacts of dementia on people and families.


Contact the Healthy Brain Ageing Clinic by phone +61 7 5430 1133 or email HBA@usc.edu.au.

Our research team

Dr Sophie Andrews

Senior Research Fellow – ARC DECRA Fellow; Lead – Healthy Brain Ageing Research Program, Thompson Institute

sandrews1@usc.edu.au

Tom Pace
Dr Thomas Pace

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Healthy Brain Ageing

tpace@usc.edu.au

Ciara Treacy
Ciara Treacy

Research Assistant, Healthy Brain Ageing Clinic

ctreacy@usc.edu.au

Dr Jacob Levenstein
Dr Jacob Levenstein

Research Fellow - Neuroimaging

jlevenstein@usc.edu.au