Understanding the relationship between brain structure and cognitive function and aging is a critical area of research with implications for a wide range of fields, from education to clinical neurology. Neuroimaging data, which may include, among others, measures that represent properties of morphology, water diffusion and oxygen consumption in blood, provide a unique opportunity to investigate this relationship with high precision. By examining the brain at a fine-grained level, we can identify regions that are particularly important for cognitive function and aging. Additionally, neuroimaging data can be used to identify potential biomarkers of cognitive decline, which could be useful for early detection and intervention in disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. This is particularly important as the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases is expected to rise dramatically with the aging of the global population. By identifying early warning signs of cognitive decline, we may be able to develop interventions that can slow or even prevent the onset of these diseases.

The Human Connectome Project (HCP) is a large-scale research effort that has collected extensive neuroimaging data on 1200 subjects, including measures of cortical thickness and surface area, as well as functional and structural connectivity data. By analyzing these data in conjunction with cognitive performance measures, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the complex relationship between brain structure and cognition. The HCP dataset is particularly valuable due to its large sample size and diverse demographic characteristics of the participants, allowing for investigation of individual differences in brain structure and cognition across a wide range of ages and populations.

You will have the opportunity to conduct your own investigation based on part of the HCP dataset, possibly answering questions that you find compelling about the process of cognitive function and aging. For example, you might be interested in understanding how brain morphology relates to cognition, or how the brain is altered during adulthood. Any question that you can pose as a statistical inference is fair.

As part of this project, you will complete a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, as well as a regression modelling. By applying these methods to the HCP dataset, you can gain insights into the complex relationship between the brain and cognition, and contribute to ongoing efforts to promote cognitive health and understand the mechanisms of cognitive aging.