Can Fluid-Filled Spaces in the Brain Help Us Predict Who Will Develop Dementia?
People with enlarged fluid-filled spaces in the brain around small blood vessels may be more likely to develop dementia than people whose perivascular spaces are smaller, according to a new study published in Neurology®.
Perivascular spaces are involved in clearing waste and toxins from the brain and may play a role in the brain changes associated with aging.
The study, led by Dr Matt Paradise at UNSW Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), involved 400 people with an average age of 80. Participants took tests of thinking and memory skills at the beginning of the study and again four years later. Researchers evaluated participants for dementia at the beginning of the study and again eight years later. The participants also had MRI brain scans to check for enlarged perivascular spaces in two areas of the brain. The top quarter of the people with the largest number of enlarged perivascular
Effect of COVID-19 Greatest on People Living with Dementia
The COVID-19 global pandemic is affecting people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in a unique way.
Not only does evidence suggest that people with dementia are more likely to contract COVID-19 than people without dementia, but also that older adults with dementia are more likely to have severe disease outcomes from the virus, including increased risk of death.
Researchers at UNSW Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) are calling for increased caregiver support and skilled staff to provide extra support for people living with dementia during and after the pandemic.
Changes to Hippocampus Key in Alzheimer’s Disease
Research led by researchers within the Neuroimaging Group UNSW Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) has found that specific subregions within the hippocampus may be key in understanding Alzheimer’s disease.
The hippocampus is one of the regions in the brain that has been frequently used in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease – the most common type of dementia – with hippocampal volume an important biomarker of the disease. Genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease is also indicated by hippocampal atrophy.
However, its structure is not uniform and is actually separated into subregions. These subregions have been observed to be influenced by genetics as well as age and sex.