Associate Professor
School of Medicine and Public Health | Department of Neurology
Corinna Burger is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research program focuses on studying the molecular biology of learning and memory, and genetic mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders. Her lab uses a multidisciplinary approach to understand the molecular, cellular and behavioral mechanisms of learning and memory in aging and in neurodegenerative diseases. One approach the lab uses involves the manipulation of gene expression in a region-specific manner using viral gene delivery. She has received both federal and private funding to study mechanisms of cognitive aging and to carry out preclinical studies for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease using gene therapy. Her work to date has received over 4,000 citations (Google Scholar) and she is widely regarded as a leader and expert in molecular and cellular mechanisms of age-related cognitive decline, as well as a pioneer in viral vector applications to neuroscience.
Talks:
Reserve and Resilience in Aging and Alzheimer's disease
Cognitive reserve/resilience is becoming the focus in the field of aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease-related disorders. In humans, educational attainment, a form of environmental enrichment, provides resilience to age-related cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease. While it is known that environmental enrichment preserves cognition in the senescent brain, the brain structures and molecular mechanisms participating are only beginning to emerge.
Professor Burger’s talk can also be offered in Spanish.