LMH’s Dr Eleanor Conole (Junior Research Fellow in Applied Artificial Intelligence) has been awarded the Oxford University Press (OUP) Early Career First Book Prize for her forthcoming book, Neuroepigenetics: How We Live Shapes How We Age.
The book explores how the interaction between our genes and lived experiences influences brain health as we age. Bringing together research from neuroscience, epidemiology, psychology and the history of science, the book draws on large population studies spanning infancy to later life. It examines how epigenetics relates to variation in brain structure and cognitive ability, while also considering the wider ethical and societal implications of this emerging field.
Oxford University Press describes the book as "a landmark study poised to reshape how multiple fields understand this postgenomic science and its relevance to our ageing societies."
Dr Conole’s research focuses on epigenetics – changes that regulate how genes function without changing the underlying DNA sequence. The epigenome (the genome-wide landscape of these changes) is dynamic and responsive to our lifestyle and environment, with factors such as diet, physical activity and stress influencing patterns of epigenetic modifications. Measuring these patterns in large population studies offers new ways to investigate the relationship between our genes, lived experience and brain health.
Explaining what inspired her to write the book, Dr Conole said:
"I wanted to write it because this is an area of science that is evolving quite rapidly – so we’ve hit a certain tipping point where the field’s still developing but there’s now a substantial body of evidence to critically engage with. Some of that evidence is more speculative, and some of it gives us this missing piece to these longstanding debates in the field about gene-environment interactions."
The emerging field of neuroepigenetics examines how these biological processes relate to the development and functioning of the brain and nervous system, and whether they can help explain differences in cognitive and neurological health throughout our lives.
Understanding what drives differences in brain health is particularly important as populations grow older, given the burden of adverse brain ageing on individuals and care systems.
Highlighting the importance of this research, Dr Conole explained:
"Anyone who’s witnessed dramatic changes in someone’s cognition will know how foundational our cognitive health is to our independence and quality of life."
She added:
"Understanding why one person reaches their 80s still sharp and agile in their thinking, while another struggles with tasks or remembering in their early 60s, becomes more relevant still when we consider that our populations on the whole are growing increasingly older."
Her book also considers how cumulative exposures and experiences such as trauma and early-life circumstances may shape brain health over time, alongside the wider implications of neuroepigenetics for science and medicine.
Reflecting on winning the OUP prize, Dr Conole said:
"I'm very grateful to the Prize Committee and OUP for taking an interest and all the feedback provided at each stage of shortlisting. I’m also conscious that none of this would have been possible without the collective efforts and dedication of the participants / study coordinators / clinicians and researchers involved in the longitudinal population cohorts that I discuss in the book (everyone involved in the Lothian Birth Cohorts, Generation Scotland and Theirworld Edinburgh Birth cohort)."
Dr Conole is now working towards an October 2027 deadline to complete the manuscript.
Looking ahead to publication, Dr Conole said:
"Thanks to the support of the prize, all the chapters will be fully open access, so I'm looking forward to sharing this science more widely when the book’s published."
Neuroepigenetics: How We Live Shapes How We Age will be published by Oxford University Press.
