Welcome to the Aldridge Laboratory:
Dr. Georgina Aldridge is a neurologist and neuroscientist whose specializes in treating and diagnosing patients with cognitive disorders, including those with Lewy Body dementia/Parkinson's disease dementia. In these patients, the protein alpha-synuclein aggregates, leading to severe multi-system symptoms, including hallucinations, loss of smell, dementia, imbalance, fluctuating confusion, and anxiety/depression. Our main goal is to understand the role that pathology and protein misfolding in the cortex plays in the development of these symptoms.
Dr. Aldridge and her team use 2-photon microscopy to image neuronal structure (dendritic spines, dendrites, and axons) and function (calcium imaging) over time in living mice to evaluate how alpha-synuclein and other proteins involved in neurodegenerative conditions lead to changes in cortical function.
p-synuclein in YFP-H mice on apical dendrites with dendritic spines. mCherry marks injection site.
Prefrontal Apicals in yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) expressing mice.
Alpha-synuclein immunostaining after viral overexpression (green)
Lewy Body in subtantia nigra from Parkinson's dementia patient (pink sphere)
Dendritic spines and axons imaged once per week
Dendritic spines and axonal boutons in vivo
