Carla Startin

My most recent research project investigated differences in people with Down syndrome relating to their cognitive abilities and the development of dementia. We know that people with Down syndrome have a greatly increased risk of developing dementia, with diagnosis at a younger age compared to the typically developing population, though there are wide differences between people with Down syndrome relating to when people start to show cognitive decline. This project collected data on a large number of people with Down syndrome to investigate cognitive changes across the lifespan and factors that may predict the development of cognitive decline, as well as those that predict baseline cognitive abilities.