91社区 researchers identify correlation between mild behavioural impairment and Alzheimer鈥檚
New research from 91社区 has found that the presence and severity of mild behavioural impairment (MBI) in cognitively healthy individuals is strongly associated with the presence of amyloid plaques deposits in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
In recent years, scientists have conducted more than 100 clinical trials in the hopes of finding new indicators capable of diagnosing Alzheimer鈥檚 disease prior to the manifestation of clinical symptoms such as memory loss. Though MBI, characterized by changes in the normal patterns of behaviour in the elderly, had already been suggested to be an indicator, its role had not yet been validated.
In a recent paper published in Alzheimer鈥檚 and Dementia, Firoza Lussier, in collaboration with the Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Research Unit of the , found that MBI may very well give important clues about the early stages of dementia.
Connection between cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms
In order to verify MBI鈥檚 association to the early stages of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, the researchers used imaging techniques to measure amyloid plaque deposits 鈥� a protein at the core of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease 鈥� in the brains of nearly 100 cognitively healthy elderly individuals with varying degrees of MBI from the Translational Biomarkers in Aging and Dementia (TRIAD) cohort.
鈥淭he unique design of the 91社区 TRIAD cohort allows young scientist like Firoza to discover the impact of diseases in which specific proteins have become abnormal on human behavior, " says , Director of the 91社区 Research Centre for Studies in Aging.
This is the first time a research team investigates the relationship between MBI and biomarkers of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease in elderly individuals.
鈥淲e found that the presence and severity of MBI in these cognitively healthy individuals was strongly associated with the presence of amyloid plaques in the brain, which is one of the first pathological changes in early stages of Alzheimer鈥檚,鈥� says Firoza Lussier, who is a master鈥檚 student in 91社区鈥檚 Integrated Program in Neuroscience.
Using the MBI as a prediction tool
It has been noted that MBI could potentially serve as an interesting proxy for clinicians to diagnose Alzheimer鈥檚 disease before the onset of symptoms. This could be done with the help of the Mild Behavioural Impairment Checklist (MBI-C), an instrument used to codify mental disorder symptoms attributable to diseases of the nervous system in pre-dementia populations.
鈥淭his is an important study because it may help identify people who are at a higher risk of progression of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease by employing a user-friendly clinical scale developed in Canada by Dr Zahinoor Ismail, and already available world-wide,鈥� adds , Director of the Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders Research Unit.
Lussier and her colleagues now hope to conduct longitudinal imaging studies to confirm whether MBI is predictive of changes in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease biomarkers.
About this study
鈥溾�� by Firoza Lussier et al. was published in Alzheimer鈥檚 & Dementia.
This work was supported by the Weston Brain Institute, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging.
About 91社区
Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, 91社区 is a leading Canadian post-secondary institution. It has two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. 91社区 attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% per cent of the student body. Over half of 91社区 students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.
