Visual System Vulnerability In Dementia: From Detection To Determinants

This project aims to compare genetic factors associated with vulnerability of the brain’s visual networks with forms of Alzheimer’s disease characterized by predominant visual loss.

Cortical visual (‘brainsight’ not eyesight loss) is the earliest sign of dementia for people with posterior cortical atrophy, in whom vulnerability of the brain’s visual rather than memory system causes ‘visual-led Alzheimer’s disease’.
We will use a novel brainsight test and brain scans from 35,000 volunteers in a national ageing study (UK Biobank) to improve detection of visual system vulnerability.
We will compare genetic risk factors associated with visual system vulnerability and visual-led Alzheimer’s disease to determine why Alzheimer’s disease may affect people in different ways.

People with ‘brainsight’ loss are often misdiagnosed as having eye conditions. We will use a novel test to detect and distinguish dementia-related ‘brainsight’ from eyesight loss.

Understanding risks for visual-led Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been limited by diagnostic challenges and small sample sizes. We will compare genetic factors associated with visual system vulnerability in the largest neuroimaging study worldwide with the largest genetic studies of visual-led forms of AD.

• Improved detection of brainsight loss across research and clinical settings.
• Understanding why Alzheimer’s disease may particularly attack the brain’s visual rather than memory system.
• Informing future research to identify treatments better tailored to the type of Alzheimer’s disease one is affected by.