Affordable, Non-Invasive Test May Detect Who is Most at Risk for Alzheimer’s
Individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) are at twice the risk of others in their age group of progressing to Alzheimer’s disease. Although no conclusive test exists to predict who will develop Alzheimer’s, new research from the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas is attempting to identify a potential biomarker that could offer a more complete picture of who is most at risk.
In a study published in the latest edition of the Journal ofAlzheimer’s Disease, researchers identify a specific variation in brain waves of individuals with aMCI. The findings depict a pattern of delayed neural activity that is directly related to the severity of impairment in cognitive performance on a word finding task and may indicate an early dysfunction of progression to Alzheimer’s disease.
Impaired episodic memory, the ability to retain new memories such as recent conversations, events, or upcoming appointments, is a hallmark symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. While mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the recognized clinical state between healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease, aMCI is a specific type characterized by deficits in episodic memory.
