Spotlight on Young Researchers: Detecting Alzheimer’s Disease with music

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by a decline in cognitive abilities affecting memory, thinking, and behaviour. Affected individuals ultimately lose their ability to do things on their own. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is one of the major challenges for society in the 21st century.

While progress has been made in research on Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), big challenges still lay ahead.

“For example, although scientists are working hard to find treatments, those available now are not able to fix the structural damage in the brain or slow down memory loss very well, especially in the later stages of the disease,” explains Elisa Serra, a neuroscientist and AFR PhD candidate at Oxford University in collaboration with Aarhus University.

Scientists are using a variety of methods in their effects to identify early signs of the disease.

“Some involve taking samples from inside the body or using special scans like PET scans to catch underlying changes before people start showing signs of the disease behaviourally.”

The complex workings of the brain, coupled with the still limited grasp of how the disease develops in early stages, as well as the need for better, easier ways to detect it in older adults are key obstacles standing in the way of getting this disease under control. Current diagnosis methods are invasive.

The project PRELUDE uses music and advanced neuroimaging techniques to study early brain changes in AD.

“The research Centers and colleagues I work with have found the combination of musical games with MEG to be incredibly valuable in understanding how memory systems in the brain are affected by healthy ageing. This understanding will be crucial in interpreting the brain patterns we observe in individuals with dementia.”