top of page

A portion of ProApto’s revenue funds high-level academic research in human neuroscience. Members of ProApto are active academic doctors conducting research with expertise in neuroimaging and neuropsychology. Their areas of interest and specialization include cognitive performance, mind-wandering, meditation, physical fitness, and dietary behavior. Applications of their work range from cognitive enhancement to dementia prevention.


Below are two major studies directly funded by ProApto. The following section lists publications by members of the ProApto entourage.

Pineal Gland and Meditation

The first study reporting a direct association with long-term meditative practice and reduced calcification of the Pineal Gland. This study utilised a total of 983 clinical MRI scans of healthy subjects recruited across Europe and USA utilising MRI clinical scans. This publication also reported that 14 meditators in comparison to 969 controls exhibited slower degeneration of  Grey Matter.

​

Published in 2025 on Journal of Pineal Research - WILEY  

Picture3.jpg
Picture1.jpg

Vo2Max, Neuromodulatory Subcortical Nuclei and Brain Age 

The first study reporting a direct association between the integrity of Locus Coeruleus -LC-(seed of the noradrenergic system) and greater Vo2Max level in healthy subjects. The LC is the first brain nuclei showing degeneration decades before the onset of dementia, and it is crucial for attentional focus and physical responsiveness. This study opens to a more detailed understanding of the beneficial effects of physical activity in matter of cognitive enhancement and dementia prevention. 

​

Published in 2024 on Acta Physiologica - WILEY  

 

Publications of people in ProApto

​

  1. Plini, E. R. G., Melnychuk, M. C., Dockree, P. M. (2025). Meditation Linked to Enhanced MRI Signal Intensity in the Pineal Gland and Reduced Predicted Brain Age. Journal of Pineal Research, 77(2), e70033. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpi.70033
     

  2. Plini, E. R. G., Robertson, I. H., Brosnan, M. B., Dockree, P. M. (2025). Locus Coeruleus Is Associated with Higher Openness to Experience and IQ: Implications for the Noradrenergic System for Novelty Seeking in Daily Life. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 37(3), 767-790. 10.1162/jocn_a_02245
     

  3. Plini, E. R. G., Melnychuk, M. C., Andrews, R., Boyle, R. T., Whelan, R., Spence, J. S., Chapman, S. B., Robertson, I. H., Dockree, P. M. (2024). Greater physical fitness (VO2max) in healthy older adults associated with increased integrity of the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system. Acta Physiologica, 240(8), e14191. 10.1111/apha.14191
     

  4. Melnychuk, M. C., Dockree, P. M., O'Connell, R. G., Murphy, P. R., Balsters, J. H., Robertson, I. H. Coupling of respiration and attention via the locus coeruleus: Effects of meditation and pranayama. Psychophysiology. 2018 Sep;55(9):e13091. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13091. Epub 2018 Apr 22. PMID: 29682753.
     

  5. Melnychuk, M. C., Robertson, I. H., Plini, E. R. G., Dockree, P. M. (2021). A Bridge between the Breath and the Brain: Synchronization of Respiration, a Pupillometric Marker of the Locus Coeruleus, and an EEG Marker of Attentional Control State. Brain Sciences, 11(10), 1324. 10.3390/brainsci11101324
     

  6. Plini E. R. G., O'Hanlon, E., Boyle, R. T., Sibilia, F., Rikhye, G., Kenney, J., Whelan, R., Melnychuk, M. C., Robertson, I. H., Dockree, P. M. (2021). Examining the Role of the Noradrenergic Locus Coeruleus for Predicting Attention and Brain Maintenance in Healthy Old Age and Disease: An MRI Structural Study for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Cells, 10(7), 1829. 10.3390/cells10071829
     

  7. Melnychuk, M. C., Hasenkamp, W., Plini, E. R. G., Robertson I. H., Dockree, P. M. (2024) P.1 - Respiratory-locked network-level differences in resting-state BOLD signals of meditators and controls. Biological Psychology, Volume 193, 108932, ISSN 0301-0511, 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108932. 
     

  8. Melnychuk, M.C., Murphy, P.R., Robertson, I.H. et al. Prediction of attentional focus from respiration with simple feed-forward and time delay neural networks. Neural Computing & Applications 32, 14875–14884 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-020-04841-7
     

  9. Plini, E. R. G., Melnychuk, M. C., Harkin, A., Dahl, M. J., McAuslan, M., Kühn, S., Boyle, R. T., Whelan, R., Andrews, R., Düzel, S., Drewelies, J., Wagner, G. G., Lindenberger, U., Norman, K., Robertson, I. H., Dockree, P. M. (2023). Dietary Tyrosine Intake (FFQ) Is Associated with Locus Coeruleus, Attention and Grey Matter Maintenance: An MRI Structural Study on 398 Healthy Individuals of the Berlin Aging Study-II. Journal of Nutrition, Health, and Aging, 27(12), 1174-1187. 10.1007/s12603-023-2005-y

 

Future Studies

​

​Future directions fall in the domains of mind-wandering and meditation and how dietary behaviour affects brain morphology and neuropsychological functioning. Funding acquisition is ongoing.

bottom of page