7Tesla MRI Scanning in AD and FTLD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
7Tesla MRI Scanning in Alzheimer’s disease and Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration
IRAS ID
212104
Contact name
Thomas E Cope
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
There is a long history of research precisely describing the thinking difficulties that occur in different types of dementia. Recently there have been exciting discoveries about how this is caused by changes in brain cells as they become damaged, by malfunction and shrinkage in different parts of the brain. We will use a cutting edge brain scanning technology called “7T MRI” to measure in intricate detail what is going wrong in the brain of people with dementia - including the way that groups of cells in different brain areas are damaged, how they are activated during different tasks, and how they communicate with each other across the brain. We will link these changes to patients’ symptoms and, where possible, to the underlying damage to brain cells.
The results of this work will increase our knowledge of the causes of dementia, and allow us to explain the causes of symptoms of dementia. It may also improve animal models of dementia, by testing in patients the predictions made from laboratory scientists elsewhere in the world. In the longer term, by studying how these problems change over time, we aim to develop tools that will allow us to assess the effectiveness of new drug treatments.REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0351
Date of REC Opinion
26 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion