Dr Ahmad Khundakar
Research Associate

  • Email: ahmad.khundakar@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 248 1219
  • Fax: +44 (0) 191 248 1101
  • Address: Institute for Ageing and Health
    Newcastle University
    Campus for Ageing and Vitality
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE4 5PL

Qualifications

BSc (hons) Human Biology
MSc Neuroscience
PhD Neuropharmacology

Previous Positions

Medical writer

 

Research Interests

To date, my work within the Institute for Ageing and Health has involved the morphometric quantification of the structural components of the brain using stereological analysis. Stereology is now accepted by the scientific community as the ‘gold standard’ in quantifying cellular and volumetric changes in post-mortem tissue and is a thorough and systematic approach with a sound mathematical basis, unlike older methods.

This research has revealed morphometric changes in neurones within areas of the brain associated with affective function in patients with late-life depression.

Other Expertise

Neuropharmacology of depression

The involvement of neurotrophic factors in depression

Medical/scientific writing, proofreading and editing

Current Work

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is characterised by recurrent visual hallucinations often leading to disorientation and distress in patients. The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and primary visual cortex (BA17) are first and second neuronal systems after the eyes which process visual information. I am therefore currently examining the possible pathological changes present within the LGN and primary visual cortex in the post-mortem tissue of patients with DLB using stereological and immunohistochemical  analysis. This novel study is very important in establishing whether the visual hallucinations experienced in DLB patients are a result of pathological changes in the visual system within the brain, providing a greater understanding of the pathophysiological processes behind DLB.