The PREVENT Dementia Programme has a number of publications which have been published across a range of peer reviewed journals and can be accessed through the links in the categories below.
Imaging -
View all [24]
Feng Deng, Karen Ritchie, Graciela Muniz-Terrera, Suzanne Hutchinson, Paresh Malhotra, Craig W Ritchie, Brian Lawlor, Lorina Naci.
Neurobiology of Ageing (2024)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2024.09.00610.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2024.09.006
Summary
This study examined whether Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) risk factors were associated with cognition and functional connectivity (FC) between two key brain structures involved with the development of AD, the Locus Coeruleus (LC) and the hippocampus.
The study found evidence that in midlife, the role of functional connectivity between the LC and the hippocampus in supporting cognition is disrupted, in individuals with a high dementia risk score. When genetic risk (APOE ε4) or family history were considered on their own, no alterations of brain–behaviour relationships were found. It was only when a risk score (CAIDE) incorporating genetic risk in combination with lifestyle factors, sex and age was considered, that such alterations were unraveled.
These results provide evidence that brain–behaviour changes in individuals with higher dementia risk scores may be driven by lifestyle factors included in the CAIDE score (i.e., blood pressure, cholesterol, physical activity, body mass index, years of education). These findings highlight the importance of modifying cardiovascular factors for the early prevention of dementia.
Cognition -
View all [8]
Bauermeister, S.D., ,
British Medical Journal (2023)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678X231173587
Summary
This study sought to look at the relationship between pre-diabetes (that is resistance of the body tissue to insulin), depressive symptoms and performance on memory tests in 40-59 year olds. Blood samples were analysed to check how responsive the body tissues were to insulin. Scores on a depression symptoms scale was used to assess levels of depression. Results from two computerised tests were used to determine memory and thinking skills. The results found those with evidence of insulin resistance reported higher depression symptoms. Higher insulin resistance in older middle-aged adults may be particularly detrimental to some aspects of memory and thinking as performance was impaired in those aged 50-60 years. The findings show that there are interrelationships between depression, resistance to insulin and cognitive impairment.
Other -
View all [11]
Craig W Ritchie, Katie Bridgeman, Sarah Gregory, John T O’Brien, Samuel O Danso, Maria-Eleni Dounavi, Isabelle Carriere, David Driscoll, Robert Hillary, Ivan Koychev, Brian Lawlor, Lorina Naci, Li Su, Audrey Low, Elijah Mak, Paresh Malhotra, Jean Manson, Riccardo Marioni, Lee Murphy, Georgios Ntailianis, William Stewart, Graciela Muniz-Terrera, Karen Ritchie
Brain Communications (2024)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2023.07.020
Summary
The PREVENT cohort offers a novel dataset to explore midlife risk factors and early signs of neurodegenerative disease. The cohort includes 700 participants recruited across five sites in the United Kingdom and Ireland (Cambridge, Dublin, Edinburgh, London and Oxford). At baseline, participants had a mean age of 51.2 years, with the majority female (n=433, 61.9%). There was a near equal distribution of participants with and without a parental history of dementia (51.4% vs 48.6%) and a relatively high prevalence of APOEɛ4 carriers (n=264, 38.0%). Participants were highly educated (16.7 ± 3.44 years of education), and mainly of European Ancestry (n=672, 95.9%). This paper provides an overview of the study protocol and presents the first summary results from the initial baseline data to describe the cohort.
