Many drugs designed to treat dementia are proving to be not really effective and that might be because the brain damage is detected too late. Scientists might have found an early detection method for some forms of dementia, according to new research.
Scientists wanted to study how degeneration affects the function of the brain. What they discovered, however, was that the brain showed functional defects in regions that were not yet showing structural damage on MRI.
Patients with a rare neurodegenerative brain disorder called primary progressive aphasia, or PPA, show abnormalities in brain function in areas that look structurally normal on an MRI scan. Often, people don’t come in for help until their neurons are already dead. Doctors can do compensation therapies to delay disease progression, but once brain cells are dead, they can’t get them back. This technique could allow patients to get ahead of the damage.
Name of Author: Mikayla Mace