In their latest brain imaging study on women at risk for Alzheimer's disease, York University researchers have found deterioration in the pathways that serve to communicate signals between different brain regions needed for performing everyday activities such as driving a car or using a computer.
"We observed a relationship between the levels of deterioration in the brain wiring and their performance on our task that required simultaneous thinking and moving; what we see here is a result of communication failure," explains Professor Lauren Sergio in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science.
In an interview, Sergio in whose lab the study was conducted, says the findings also suggest that their computerized, easily-administered task that the study participants performed, can be used to test those at risk for Alzheimer's disease to flag early warning signs. "The test is a clinically feasible substitute to the more involved braining imaging tasks that people don't, or can't, have done routinely."
Typically, Alzheimer's disease is associated with memory loss, perception and other aspects of cognition, while debility in complex movements is observed at a much later stage.
The study, Diffusion Tensor Imaging Correlates of Cognitive-Motor Decline in Normal Aging and Increased Alzheimer's Disease Risk, recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, was conducted on 30 female participants of whom 10 were in their mid-20s. The rest were in their 50s or older, with half of them at high risk for Alzheimer's disease.
This video is not supported by your browser at this time.
"We decided to focus this study on women, as there is higher prevalence in this group, and also women who carry the ApoE4 gene are more vulnerable to the degradation of white matter," notes PhD candidate Kara Hawkins who led the study, adding that the genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease was one of the traits tested for in the current study.
"We scanned the brains of the participants, aiming to see if the impaired cognitive-motor performance in the high risk group was related to brain alterations over and above standard aging changes," Hawkins adds.
According to the researchers, the big question ahead is 'what can be done to prevent a decline in function of a person's brain showing signs of communication problems.' And the answer they are exploring is in finding ways to use these thinking and moving tasks in a proactive way, as part of a game-like cognitive-motor integration training method.
Explore further: Simple test can help detect Alzheimer's before dementia signs show
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
Simple test can help detect Alzheimer's before dementia signs show
York University researchers say a simple test that combines thinking and movement can help to detect heightened risk for developing Alzheimer's disease in a person, even before there are any telltale behavioural ...
Unraveling the complex puzzle of Alzheimer's disease
In the movie Still Alice, Julianne Moore plays a Columbia linguistics professor who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, an extremely rare version of the disease. Moore's performance, for which she ...
Fish oil supplements reduce incidence of cognitive decline, may improve memory function
Rhode Island Hospital researchers have completed a study that found regular use of fish oil supplements (FOS) was associated with a significant reduction in cognitive decline and brain atrophy in older adults. The study examined ...
Neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric and functional assessments help follow the course of Alzheimer's disease
The cognitive performance of persons with Alzheimer's disease and behavioural and psychological problems are linked to their performance of activities of daily living, according to a recent study completed at the University ...
Study of thousands of brains reveals tau as driver of Alzheimer's disease
By examining more than 3,600 postmortem brains, researchers at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Rochester, Minnesota, have found that the progression of dysfunctional tau protein drives ...
Recommended for you
Scientists use immunotherapy to reduce memory problems with Alzheimer's disease
A new study from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has revealed that a single dose of an immunotherapy reverses memory problems in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. The article appears in the March ...
Researchers help create 'gold standard' method for measuring an early sign of Alzheimer's
After six years of painstaking research, a UCLA-led team has validated the first standardized protocol for measuring one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease—the atrophy of the part of the brain ...
Doctors may not be informing of Alzheimer's diagnosis
(HealthDay)—Doctors are not telling a majority of their patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's that they have the degenerative brain disease, a new report by the Alzheimer's Association indicates.
Study of thousands of brains reveals tau as driver of Alzheimer's disease
By examining more than 3,600 postmortem brains, researchers at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Rochester, Minnesota, have found that the progression of dysfunctional tau protein drives ...
Report: Less than half say they were told Alzheimer's diagnosis
The Alzheimer's Association's 2015 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, released today, found that only 45 percent of people with Alzheimer's disease or their caregivers say they were told the diagnosis by their ...
Research identifies novel steps in dementia progression
Research by biologists at the University of York has identified new mechanisms potentially driving progression of an aggressive form of dementia.
User comments
Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more
Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.
In their latest brain imaging study on women at risk for Alzheimer's disease, York University researchers have found deterioration in the pathways that serve to communicate signals between different brain regions needed for performing everyday activities such as driving a car or using a computer.
"We observed a relationship between the levels of deterioration in the brain wiring and their performance on our task that required simultaneous thinking and moving; what we see here is a result of communication failure," explains Professor Lauren Sergio in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science.
In an interview, Sergio in whose lab the study was conducted, says the findings also suggest that their computerized, easily-administered task that the study participants performed, can be used to test those at risk for Alzheimer's disease to flag early warning signs. "The test is a clinically feasible substitute to the more involved braining imaging tasks that people don't, or can't, have done routinely."
Typically, Alzheimer's disease is associated with memory loss, perception and other aspects of cognition, while debility in complex movements is observed at a much later stage.
The study, Diffusion Tensor Imaging Correlates of Cognitive-Motor Decline in Normal Aging and Increased Alzheimer's Disease Risk, recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, was conducted on 30 female participants of whom 10 were in their mid-20s. The rest were in their 50s or older, with half of them at high risk for Alzheimer's disease.
This video is not supported by your browser at this time.
"We decided to focus this study on women, as there is higher prevalence in this group, and also women who carry the ApoE4 gene are more vulnerable to the degradation of white matter," notes PhD candidate Kara Hawkins who led the study, adding that the genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease was one of the traits tested for in the current study.
"We scanned the brains of the participants, aiming to see if the impaired cognitive-motor performance in the high risk group was related to brain alterations over and above standard aging changes," Hawkins adds.
According to the researchers, the big question ahead is 'what can be done to prevent a decline in function of a person's brain showing signs of communication problems.' And the answer they are exploring is in finding ways to use these thinking and moving tasks in a proactive way, as part of a game-like cognitive-motor integration training method.
Explore further: Simple test can help detect Alzheimer's before dementia signs show
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
Simple test can help detect Alzheimer's before dementia signs show
York University researchers say a simple test that combines thinking and movement can help to detect heightened risk for developing Alzheimer's disease in a person, even before there are any telltale behavioural ...
Unraveling the complex puzzle of Alzheimer's disease
In the movie Still Alice, Julianne Moore plays a Columbia linguistics professor who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, an extremely rare version of the disease. Moore's performance, for which she ...
Fish oil supplements reduce incidence of cognitive decline, may improve memory function
Rhode Island Hospital researchers have completed a study that found regular use of fish oil supplements (FOS) was associated with a significant reduction in cognitive decline and brain atrophy in older adults. The study examined ...
Neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric and functional assessments help follow the course of Alzheimer's disease
The cognitive performance of persons with Alzheimer's disease and behavioural and psychological problems are linked to their performance of activities of daily living, according to a recent study completed at the University ...
Study of thousands of brains reveals tau as driver of Alzheimer's disease
By examining more than 3,600 postmortem brains, researchers at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Rochester, Minnesota, have found that the progression of dysfunctional tau protein drives ...
Recommended for you
Scientists use immunotherapy to reduce memory problems with Alzheimer's disease
A new study from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has revealed that a single dose of an immunotherapy reverses memory problems in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. The article appears in the March ...
Researchers help create 'gold standard' method for measuring an early sign of Alzheimer's
After six years of painstaking research, a UCLA-led team has validated the first standardized protocol for measuring one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease—the atrophy of the part of the brain ...
Doctors may not be informing of Alzheimer's diagnosis
(HealthDay)—Doctors are not telling a majority of their patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's that they have the degenerative brain disease, a new report by the Alzheimer's Association indicates.
Study of thousands of brains reveals tau as driver of Alzheimer's disease
By examining more than 3,600 postmortem brains, researchers at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Jacksonville, Florida, and Rochester, Minnesota, have found that the progression of dysfunctional tau protein drives ...
Report: Less than half say they were told Alzheimer's diagnosis
The Alzheimer's Association's 2015 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, released today, found that only 45 percent of people with Alzheimer's disease or their caregivers say they were told the diagnosis by their ...
Research identifies novel steps in dementia progression
Research by biologists at the University of York has identified new mechanisms potentially driving progression of an aggressive form of dementia.
User comments
Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more
Click here
to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.
0 comments:
Post a Comment