Name:
Hanna Kristiina Isotalus
Job Title:
PhD Student
Place of work / study:
University of Bristol
Area of Research:
Cognitive neuroscience
Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a PhD student at the University of Bristol working on a clinical trial to see if we can enhance memory storage during sleep by increasing dopamine activity in the brain using medication.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
When I lived at home my dad didn’t let me have a cat so I adopted a kitten behind his back and named her after him. She still lives with mum and dad today.
Why did you choose to work in dementia:
The link between what happens and changes in the brain as we age or develop pathology and how that impacts behaviour is fascinating. Here we have this three-pound lump of meat and one tiny thing that goes wrong can have cumulative devastating outcomes for individuals. On a more positive note I am convinced we can do something about it as a community. Big scientific discoveries are often built upon a body of basic research, a lot of small stuff in the end can lead to discovering something big and meaningful. I believe dementia research is going this way and I am absolutely fascinated by the process of piecing together these discoveries and building on them to enhance our understanding and to one day develop a cure or cures to these devastating diseases.