Auditory Biomarkers of Healthy Ageing and Alzheimer's disease (ABHAD)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Auditory biomarkers of healthy ageing and Alzheimer's disease (ABHAD)
IRAS ID
318210
Contact name
Jenna Littlejohn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. In AD, symptoms such as memory loss are caused by a build-up of abnormal proteins in the brain, called amyloid and tau, which affect normal brain function.
Hearing loss is one of the most common risk factors associated with dementia, and research has shown that in people with AD, amyloid and tau also gather in the hearing (auditory) system. We would expect these abnormal proteins to affect the way the auditory system responds to sounds. We want to investigate how sounds are processed along the auditory pathway in normal healthy ageing and at various stages in people living with AD. This would help us to understand the auditory deficits that underlie listening difficulties experienced by people with AD, and how any early and easily measurable changes in the hearing system may help to aid dementia diagnosis in the early stages.
Funded in part by Deafness Support Network and National Institute for Health Research Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR BRC), participants from the North West of England will be recruited. They will have either be in the early stage of AD known as mild cognitive impairment (identified by clinicians) and compared to matched healthy controls. All participants will undergo a series of in-depth hearing tests at baseline and will be asked to return for repeat testing after 2 years.REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/PR/0538
Date of REC Opinion
3 Jun 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion