Abstract
The burden of neurodegenerative disease has devastating impacts on the health and quality of life of the ageing population. It is integral that research and policy take a focus on reducing neurodegenerative disease occurrence and progression through preventative research and strategy. The outdoor environment is home to a multitude of features and factors which can contribute to neurodegenerative disease risk. In order to harness the outdoor environment for neurodegenerative prevention, exploring mechanistic pathways from environmental exposure to cognitive influence/change is required. Epigenetics is an aspect of underlying molecular biology which may be useful for this mechanistic pathway research. Through associating environmental exposures and cognitive change with epigenetic modification through analytical techniques such as epigenome-wide association studies, it is possible to explore environmental influence on cognition through a quantifiable underlying mechanism. This thesis will summarise key literature on the environment and cognition with a focus on neurodegenerative disease to summarise the evidence base and identify gaps in knowledge.Additionally, this thesis will provide evidence on the impact of green space exposure on the DNA methylation profiles of adults in Northern Ireland, harnessing data from the Northern Ireland COhort for the Longitudinal study of Ageing (NICOLA), pertaining to their cognitive change. Exploring the mechanistic pathway between green space and cognitive change through DNA methylation will enable the development of a mechanistic pathway which includes underlying biology and the production of methodological guidance and recommendations for the future research field. Through advancing and encouraging mechanistic pathway research of the environment and neurodegenerative disease, it is hoped that environmental policy will be harnessed in disease prevention, bringing developments which will benefit both environmental and human health.
Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2031.
| Date of Award | Jul 2026 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Sponsors | Northern Ireland Department for the Economy |
| Supervisor | Ruth Hunter (Supervisor), Amy Jayne McKnight (Supervisor), Bernadette McGuinness (Supervisor) & Claire Hill (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- Urban environment
- green space
- cognitive impairment
- dementia
- neurodegenerative diseases
- epigenetics
- DNA methylation
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