Mobile-EEG based profiling of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the use of mobile-EEG and machine learning methods to profile signs of Mild Cognitive Impairment
IRAS ID
193410
Contact name
BERNADETTE MCGUINNESS
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 27 days
Research summary
The Alzheimer’s Society reports 850,000 individuals are living with dementia in UK today and this is estimated to increase to one million by 2025. Diagnosis rates in high income countries are below half, falling to 10-20% in lower-middle income countries, where awareness is even lower (Prince et al., 2015). As stated in the World Alzheimer’s Report (2015), achieving acceptable levels of coverage and access to care is the challenge currently being faced.
Early diagnosis is key. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), the most common type of dementia, is difficult to diagnose early on because symptoms only become apparent after years of neurodegeneration (i.e. the loss of brain cells over time, eventually leading to problems in cognitive ability) and there could be as much as 10-15 years' damage before early symptoms are noticed (Sperling, 2012). Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is seen as a pre-clinical form of AD (Petersen et al., 2012), symptoms are mild and do not interfere with a person’s daily activities.
This study aims to explore the deterioration in brain activity by using EEG (Electroencephalography or ‘brainwave’ technology). EEG has long been used as a diagnostic tool in clinics and universities and is an efficient and non-invasive method of capturing a person’s neural activity.
In this study, wireless mobile- EEG headsets with dry electrodes will be used. This has the added benefit of making the equipment widely accessible, affordable and user-friendly where non-clinicians could be trained to use the equipment in a GP's or in the home as a potential screening tool.
A suite of computerised games will be developed specifically to probe particular cognitive functions (e.g. memory, language) that are known to be impaired at an early stage. These will be attractive and fun to play encouraging ongoing play with the long term objective of creating a screening tool that is mobile and compact, complete with equipment and games ready to be used widely.
REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
16/NI/0242
Date of REC Opinion
5 Dec 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion