Researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology found a link between poor cognitive ability – a “clear warning sign” of the early stages of Alzheimer’s – and the thickness of people’s retinal nerves. For now, she says, it couldn’t hurt to keep your brain sharp by training it, like any other muscle, to take in and process information as efficiently as possible.
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Scientists say the ability to detect Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms are present could be crucial in the search for a cure, as treatments are likely to be more effective earlier. One group received memory training, another received reasoning skills training, and the third took training that emphasized speed of brain processing.
They divided the participants into four different groups, including a control group, wherein no brain training was offered. Impaired sense of smell and thinning of the entorhinal cortex were both significantly associated withtransition to dementia, sense of smell also predicted cognitive decline. Cognitive decline or dementia was not only less among those in the speed-of-processing group; when it appeared, it came later. Over a three-year period, those who ate a typical Western diet of red and processed meats, white bread, potatoes, prepackaged foods and candies experienced a greater cognitive decline. However, people who took either the memory or reasoning training did not show any significant difference after 10 years.
The researchers carried out a type of eye scan called spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) on over 33,000 british participants aged 40 to 69.
Dr Rosa Sancho of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “This research suggests a potentially simple and cost-effective way to identify those at risk of memory decline, but while an odour detection test could bolster current diagnostic approaches like brain scanning and pen and paper tests, this test is not yet able to reliably predict who will develop dementia in future”.
Researchers also presented results from two studies outlining the use of apparent changes in and around the eye in identifying patients with Alzheimer’s.
Among the study’s most intriguing findings, said Edwards, was the suggestion that with continued brain training – an increased dose – older people might further boost their protection against dementia.
They found participants whose brain scans showed white matter, a marker of Alzheimer’s, were less likely to have symptoms if they held jobs involving complex social interactions.
“I think we do need something like this”, said Nina Silverberg, the director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Centers program at the National Institute on Aging, who was not involved in creating the checklist or the proposed new diagnosis.
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“These new data add to a growing body of research that suggests more stimulating lifestyles, including more complex work environments with other people, are associated with better cognitive outcomes in later life”, said Maria C. Carrillo, chief science officer of the the Alzheimer’s Association.
