The Cognition Program. What determines the development of cognitive capacity?
Name of applicant
Trine Flensborg-Madsen
Title
Professor
Institution
University of Copenhagen
Amount
DKK 8,497,826
Year
2023
Type of grant
Semper Ardens: Accomplish
What?
A crucial factor in human beings is development of the brain – and among the most important indicators of this development is cognitive capacity. There is insufficient knowledge about factors that influence developmental trajectories of cognition and intelligence. We will investigate to what extent exposure to childhood adversities and environmental pollutants can lead to poorer cognitive capacity
Why?
Even small effects on cognitive capacity have great consequences at a population level. The program will elucidate the nature of cognition and from a policy perspective, the documentation of the cognitive consequences of childhood adversities and environmental pollutants will hopefully increase awareness of the importance of such factors and cause changes in policy.
How?
We establish a program based on comprehensive and continuously updated information on cognitive capacity, childhood adversities, and environmental factors from more than two million individuals. The program will be internationally unique and include the establishment of a nation-wide Cognition Database that builds on five different measures of cognition throughout the life-course.