Brain scans ‘can predict Alzheimer’s

BRAIN scans can be used to predict the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease in healthy adults, scientists revealed yesterday.

Chief researcher Dr Henry Rusinek, from New York University School of Medicine, said: "With our findings, we now know that the normal healthy brain undergoes a predictable shrinkage that can be used to help recognise Alzheimer's several years before clinical symptoms emerge."

The technique was almost 90% accurate, meaning that it correctly predicted memory impairment in nine out of 10 people. It also correctly identified 90% of those whose memory would remain normal for their age.

The study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure brain volume in 45 patients over the age of 60.

The results were used with a formula to measure a brain region called the medial-temporal lobe. This area contains the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, key structures associated with learning and memory.

The scientists carried out a number of scans and monitored patients for six years. They found that each year the medial-temporal lobe shrank considerably more in people who developed memory problems compared with those who did not.

Cognitive decline was seen in 13 patients, 29% of the total.

The medial-temporal lobe holds about 30 cubic centimetres one-sixth of a cupful of brain matter in each hemisphere.

However, Dr Rusinek said more work was needed before the technique could be used in practice.

It remained to be seen whether the technique was as accurate in a much larger pool of patients.

Mony J de Leon, professor of psychiatry at New York University and one of the study authors, said: "I believe that this technique opens an era of early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

"Now we want to combine this technique with measurements of certain Alzheimer-related proteins found in the cerebrospinal fluid, to get an even more diagnostically specific assessment."