Krister HÃ¥kansson
Affiliated to Research
E-mail: krister.hakansson@ki.se
Visiting address: Karolinska vägen 37 A, QA3, 17164 Solna
Postal address: H1 Neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle, H1 Klinisk geriatrik Kivipelto, 171 77 Stockholm
About me
- I work as a research coordinator with Miia Kivipelto and my main projects are
about robot-assisted diagnostics of early cognitive disorder and life-style
interventions to prevent cognitive decline.
Between 1975-1980 I worked at the Psychology Department at Lund University
with teaching and as research assistant at the Neuropsychology laboratory at
Lund University Hospital, primarily with rCBF (regional cerebral blood flow)
measurements. Between 1978 and 2018 I worked as teacher in Psychology at
the Linnaeus University (former Växjö University).
In 2010 I was formally registered as doctoral student (50%) at the Karolinska
Institutet, with Miia Kivipelto as main supervisor, and defended my thesis,
The role of socio-emotional factors for cognitive health in later life, on
Oct 28, 2016.
At the ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ I continue to work 50% as a research
coordinator in several projects with Miia Kivipelto as principal
investigator. Since 2018, when I resigned from the Linnaeus University, I
also work 50% in parallell at Theme Aging at the Karolinska University
Hospital, also as research coordinator under the leadership of Miia
Kivipelto.
I received the pedagogical award in 2003 from Växjö University (now the
Linnaeus University) for my work with internationalization in higher
education.
I received the silver plaque for excellence in teaching in 2001 and 2004 from
Universidad Iberoameicana, Mexico City.
1975 Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
2016 PhD in Medical Science, ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, Stockholm, Sweden
Research
- I am generally interested in the role of life style factors, especially
emotional and social factors, in the development of Alzheimer’s disease,
and also in the biological mechanisms behind the associations we have
found.
The main focus of my thesis was the role of socio-emotional factors in
midlife for cognitive health in later life and how this association is
modified by genetic risk factors. The results of the first study showed that
living alone after losing a partner relatively early in life was associated
with a seven-fold risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and the risk was even higher
for persons who also carried the ApoE 4 allele. Follow-up results indicate
that feelings of hopelessness and loneliness also constitute risk factors
independent of marital status.
At the Linnaeus University I initiated and coordinated a research project on
healthy ageing in 2013 together with Abdul Mohammed at the Linnaeus
University and Kirk Daffner at Harvard Medical School, a project that is
still on-going. The project is entitled Successful Ageing after 65: Effects
of environmental stimulation on cognitive health and neural plasticity. This
is an intervention study to compare the effects from different activities on
cognition and BDNF levels in approximately 160 healthy elderly persons living
in south Sweden or in the Boston area in the US.
At Karolinska I am a member of the Nordic Brain Network (NBN, led by Miia
Kivipelto. At present I am coordinating a part of the EACare project
(Embodied Agent to support elderly mental well-being), a collaboration
between KI and KTH. The aim of this part of the project is to develop
robot-assisted diagnostics for patients with early cognitive disorders.
Other projects are related to the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study
(FINGER). In one study we want to investigate if inter-individual differences
in cognitive gains from the intervention can be related to brain neurotrophic
factor (BDNF) availability. I also work with World-Wide FINGERSâ„¢, an
initiative to support research groups in different countries to replicate the
FINGER multimodal intervention with various adaptations. A third
FINGER-related project is to broadly implement the FINGER model among elderly
in the Stockholm region, called "Stockholm - International Capital for
Cognitive Health among elderly".
Teaching
- I have worked around 40 years as lecturer at the Linnaeus University (former
Växjö University), primarily in Psychology, but also in interdisciplinary
courses (Sports Psychology, Political Psychology, and Cross-cultural
Psychology). During the last years at the Linnaeus University I mainly taught
neuropsychology in the Psychologist´s program and also a master course in
Cross-Cultural Organizational Psychology, on a part-time basis in parallell
with my dissertation at KI.
International teaching projects include a joint summer course with
Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico on Culture in International Relations, a
distance education course in International Cooperation at UNAM (Universidad
Nacional Autonoma de Mexico), and a joint distance course in Cross-Cultural
Psychology with Makerere University (Uganda) and University of Minnesota.
I was promoted to lecturer at the Linnaeus University in 2017.
Articles
- Article: ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA. 2023;19(9):4046-4060
- Article: BRAIN, BEHAVIOR, & IMMUNITY - HEALTH. 2023;28:100592
- Article: ALZHEIMER’S & DEMENTIA: TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH & CLINICAL INTERVENTIONS. 2022;8(1):e12337
- Article: THE JOURNAL OF PREVENTION OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. 2022;9(1):30-39
- Article: ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA. 2021;17(6):1056-1065
- Article: ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA. 2020;16(7):1078-1094
- Article: JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. 2019;71(4):1245-1261
- Article: ALZHEIMER’S & DEMENTIA: TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH & CLINICAL INTERVENTIONS. 2019;5(1):825-833
- Article: JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. 2018;65(3):931-949
- Article: JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY - SERIES B PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 2017;72(6):1044-1053
- Article: JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. 2016;55(2):645-657
- Article: PLOS ONE. 2015;10(10):e0140261
- Article: DEMENTIA AND GERIATRIC COGNITIVE DISORDERS EXTRA. 2014;4(3):375-384
- Article: THE BMJ. 2009;339:b2462
All other publications
- Review: BRAIN CONNECTIVITY. 2023;13(4):178-210
- Review: FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY. 2021;12:763573
- Editorial comment: SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. 2017;316(4):32-37
- Thesis / dissertation: 2016
Employments
- Affiliated to Research, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, 2022-2025
Degrees and Education
- Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, 2016