RESEARCHERS have developed a first-of-its-kind test that could predict dementia up to nine years before a diagnosis - and with 80 per cent accuracy. The new test is more accurate than other commonly used methods , like memory tests or measurements of brain shrinkage, researchers claim. It involves analysing network of connections in the brain when it's in "idle mode" to look for very early signs of the condition.
The technique has the "potential to fill an enormous clinical gap" by identifying people who are at risk of dementia and treating them before symptoms start to show, scientists said. The team at Queen Mary University of London - lead by Professor Charles Marshall - developed the test by analysing scans to detect changes in the brain’s ‘default mode network’ (DMN). The DMN connects regions of the brain to perform specific cognitive functions and is the first neural network to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
It kicks in when the brain is in 'idle mode' - for example, when the mind wanders and isn't focused on a particular task. Researchers examined the functional MRI (fMRI) scans of 1,100 volunteers from the UK Biobank study, a large-scale biomedical database containing genetic and health information from half a million Brits. They used the scans to estimate how connected the ten regions of the brain that make up the DMN were.
The team then developed a model they claimed could predict which people in this group would go on to be diagnosed with dementia. Amo.
