Emrah Düzel

Prof. Dr. Emrah Düzel serves as Site Speaker, Group Leader, and Clinical Coordinator at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Magdeburg, Germany. His research investigates neural mechanisms of memory impairment in aging and Alzheimer's disease, with emphasis on developing non-pharmacological interventions to enhance cognitive resilience.

His core research interests include:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Memory Consolidation Mechanisms
• Alzheimer's Disease Pathophysiology
• Neuroimaging (7-Tesla MRI)
• Dopaminergic Neuromodulation
• Hippocampal Subfield Analysis
• Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Training

Prof. Düzel leads a landmark 400-participant study implementing four months of intensive treadmill walking within virtual reality environments, followed by two-year intermittent monitoring. This intervention targets hippocampal and neocortical plasticity to reduce progression from healthy aging to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. His work specifically examines how dopaminergic degeneration in the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area constrains training efficacy, integrating functional MRI with neuromodulatory system integrity assessments. Current projects also investigate novelty-reward processing in behavior and high-resolution structural changes in hippocampal subfields using advanced 7-Tesla imaging.

His research bridges fundamental neuroscience with clinical translation, aiming to develop evidence-based strategies for preserving memory function in aging populations through targeted brain plasticity induction.