A group of researchers from Bristol, Cardiff and Oxford University are set to begin investigating a genetic risk for dementia.
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The scientists will look into if healthy adults with APOE-e4, a gene variant which is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s, show altered brain activity pattern and connectivity in brain circuits used for spatial navigation and memory.
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One professor from the University of Cardiff, said: “Understanding how risk factors for dementia lead to later life memory loss is critical to developing new therapies and preventative approaches for dementia.
“This information will generate sensitive cognitive tests and markers of brain function able to identify individuals at increased risk for dementia many years prior to the onset of memory difficulties.”
On the whole, dementia is estimated to cost the UK economy around £25bn every year. If research could delay the onset of dementia by around 5 years, the cost would be halved, said the group of researchers. The group have been allocated a grant from the Medical Research Council of £2 million to try and find out more about the condition.
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The research will involve using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)), compromised of more than 14,000 families in the Bristol area. The study will use powerful new scanners which have just been installed at Maindy Park in Wales.
The executive director at ALSPAC, Lyn Molloy said: “This remarkable, intensely studied group of study participants are now entering their mid-twenties and this study will provide new insights into how brain changes at this age might be linked to increased dementia in later life.”
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