Investigating attention lateralisation and memory post-stroke 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the relationship between attention lateralisation and memory post-stroke and its prediction of dementia
IRAS ID
321553
Contact name
Daniela Montaldi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
6 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Stroke triggers a significantly increased risk of accelerated dementia onset, although our current understanding of the processes involved in post-stroke cognitive decline are limited. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms by which stroke damage to the parietal lobe of the brain leads to dementia. This study will also assess the value of a novel method to identify patients most at-risk of post-stroke dementia. The availability of reliable, empirical tools to predict cognitive outcome in patients would allow for careful planning of patients’ futures and aid future research into preventative strategies.
The inferior parietal lobe (IPL) is an area of the parietal lobe known to contribute to multiple cognitive functions, including attention and memory. This project will utilise highly sensitive, novel cognitive tests, which have been designed to assess subtle patterns of deficit, post-stroke. We will investigate the relationship between performance on these tests and the severity of damage to the right or left IPL, and assess their combined ability to predict further cognitive decline.
This project will also utilise participants clinical brain scans and investigate the use of machine learning algorithms in predicting cognitive outcome. We will assess whether the addition of behavioural data from our specialised attention and memory tests improves the predictive accuracy of machine learning models based on neuroimaging data.
This project is funded by the Medical Research Council and will recruit stroke patients aged 40-75 with parietal lobe damage from hospitals within Greater Manchester. We will also recruit healthy volunteers. Participants will attend baseline visits at 3 months post-stroke, involving a detailed cognitive assessment and our novel cognitive tests. Participants will return 1 year later so that changes in cognition occurring over this time can be compared to that of healthy volunteers.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NW/0303
Date of REC Opinion
5 Dec 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion