糖心Vlog

Zoom calls with people living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease will help scientists search for the warning signs of dementia in a new study.

糖心Vlog psychologists hope older adults in the early stages of the disease can help identify early symptoms from the comfort of their own homes .

The relaxed sessions will help researchers from The Department of Psychology explore how retaining information in the 鈥榳orking memory鈥� is affected by the degenerative condition.

During the virtual sessions, simple exercises will help researchers see how memory is impacted by dementia.

The results will then be compared against other older adults to see how healthy ageing differs from Alzheimer鈥檚-induced memory loss.

The research is being led by Dr Vanessa Loaiza, who said: 鈥淭his study will help us learn more about Alzheimer鈥檚 from the people on the frontline of the disease.

鈥淲e know how devastating a diagnosis can be and that鈥檚 why we are using Zoom to make it as easy as possible for them to join our study from the comfort of their own homes.

鈥淎lthough it is early stages this research could help us find the difference between an ordinary 鈥榮enior moment鈥� and something a lot more serious.

鈥淲e really need the help of people with Alzheimer鈥檚 to find out more about the disease and I urge anyone who can help to get in touch with my team.鈥�

The study will focus on working memory which is what we use when doing mental arithmetic.

Healthy older adults tend to struggle with tasks requiring working memory, which can impact their day-to-day lives.

Anything from reading and listening to problem-solving, is limited by what we can keep active in working memory.

Dr Loaiza鈥檚 study will distinguish between the subtle kinds of working memory mistakes that healthy older adults make compared to older adults living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

Clearly distinguishing normal forgetfulness from dementia will help scientists and medical professionals catch and treat the condition early in its progression.

Alzheimer鈥檚 is a disease which damages the brain and more than 520,000 people in the UK have dementia caused by Alzheimer鈥檚 disease - with this figure set to rise.

The progressive condition sees chemical messengers in the brain decline sparking memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language.

The study is funded by the and will involve roughly 150 people in total, with initial results expected in the summer.