FASTBALL MCI
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Fast-Periodic-Visual-Stimulation – a new technique for assessing memory in Alzheimer’s disease
IRAS ID
291799
Contact name
George Stothart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Early diagnosis tools are greatly needed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research, with current tools unable to detect the early stages of the disease. Recently new technologies have emerged allowing us to measure brain function easily, cheaply and more accurately than before.
Electroencephalography (EEG) measures brain activity in real time, and EEG headsets have recently become cheap, portable and wireless. At the same time new methods for measuring brain function with EEG have emerged that have significant potential for use in early diagnosis.
The method we use involves showing a participant some images to remember and then presenting the images to them at a very fast rate mixed up amongst images they have not seen. The rate is slow enough so that you can recognise the images, but too fast to name them or press a button in response to them. Using the EEG headsets we can identify rhythms in the brain waves that reflect whether the participant remembers the images or not.
This technique is quick, and can produce reliable information on a person's brain activity. It could therefore be used as a clinical tool, unlike previous EEG techniques. This project will use this technique with patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We will then track the clinical progress of participants, and then test to see if the EEG data can be used to predict clinical pathways. The ultimate aim of this study is to developing a diagnostic tool, using EEG, which can identify patients in the early stages of dementia.
REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/LO/0057
Date of REC Opinion
9 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion