Emily Jacobs, Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, is co-leading a study that was recently awarded a $5 million research grant from the National Institute of Aging. The project, entitled “Impact of ovarian hormone suppression on regional and global brain architecture and cognition”, seeks to understand how changes in sex hormones during treatment for endometriosis, a disorder requiring hormone suppression therapy, impact cognitive abilities and the integrity of brain structure and function of women. The project, in collaboration with Matthew Panizzon at UC San Diego, will involve scanning hundreds of patients and administering a battery of cognitive tasks. By comparing measures of brain structure and function and cognitive abilities across changes in hormone levels, results from this study will expand our understanding of how sex hormones drive changes in brain structure and function, with important applications to the aging brain. The team plans to recruit subjects and perform brain scans at both research sites, including UC Santa Barbara’s Brain Imaging Center. Prof. Jacobs’ team will be handling analyses of brain data, while Prof. Panizzon’s team at UC San Diego will lead genetic analyses.

Additional coverage of Prof. Jacobs’ award is available here: https://www.technology.org/2020/06/12/science-for-women and here: https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2020/019935/science-women