Submitted by acs95 on Tue, 06/01/2026 - 12:20
Name: Adam Brass
Research group: Old Age Psychiatry
Supervisor: Professor John O’Brien
Advisor: Dr Marialena Dounavi
Title of your PhD/MPhil: Linking Dementia Risk to Brain Network
Efficiency: A Graph Theory and Machine Learning Analysis of Resting-State
Can you give us a short background into what your MPhil was about?
The aim of my study was to determine which risk factors for dementia are the most significant drivers of brain network topology, measured using graph theory, in a cognitively healthy, midlife cohort enriched for dementia risk.
How would you sum up your main findings?
The main finding was that midlife brain changes are subtle and difficult to detect cross sectionally and potentially longitudinal studies will provide greater power in understanding these subtle changes.
What was your best day during your MPhil?
When I managed to get my preprocessing pipeline to produce results that made sense after a month of low-quality results that did not make logical sense.
What was your worst day during your MPhil?
Halfway through I was still struggling to get any meaningful results but with the help of the lab we managed to come up with a new direction leading to a MPhil I am proud of!
Do you have any words of advice to future MPhil students in Psychiatry?
Don’t be scared to ask questions – people want to help!
What do you hope to do next?
I am currently working for a medical writing consultancy but am hoping to begin a PhD in psychiatry starting 2026 specifically on EEG and brain injury.