Dr. Anna Rieckmann

Dr. Anna Rieckmann did her PhD at the Aging Research Centre, Karolinska Institute in Sweden with a focus on human aging, dopamine and cognition. Supported by an ERC Starting Grant, Dr Rieckmann’s current work in Umeå focuses on hybrid imaging as a technique to uncover molecular underpinnings of human behaviour and fMRI brain activation in healthy aging. In 2021, she also joined the Max-Planck-Institute as a research group leader. Here, she extends her work to large population-based studies to identify modifiable factors that may present targets for interventional treatment to prevent cognitive impairment. 

Research interests:

• Aging-related changes in brain activation and deactivation during cognition
• Hybrid imaging of dopamine release in humans
• Biological and lifestyle correlates of memory decline in SHARE (Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe) 

Selected publications: 

• Dedifferentiation of caudate functional connectivity and striatal dopamine transporter density predict memory change in normal aging. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Oct 2;115(40):10160-10165. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1804641115. Epub 2018 Sep 17. PMID: 30224467; PMCID: PMC6176586. 

• Dopamine transporter availability in clinically normal aging is associated with individual differences in white matter integrity. Hum Brain Mapp. 2016 Feb;37(2):621-31. doi: 10.1002/hbm.23054. Epub 2015 Nov 6. PMID: 26542307; PMCID: PMC4729206. 

• Stiernman LJ, Grill F, Hahn A, Rischka L, Lanzenberger R, Panes Lundmark V, Riklund K, Axelsson J, Rieckmann A. Dissociations between glucose metabolism and blood oxygenation in the human default mode network revealed by simultaneous PET-fMRI. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jul 6;118(27):e2021913118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2021913118. PMID: 34193521; PMCID: PMC8271663.