Monitoring visual, binocular & pupil function in people with dementia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Binocular vision, visual function and pupil dynamics in people living with dementia: Exploring their relationships to rate of cognitive decline and structural changes within the brain
IRAS ID
251485
Contact name
Marianne Coleman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 31 days
Research summary
Some types of memory problems can change your ability to judge distances. This is called depth perception. It can be measured with some simple and easy tests, which are used in hospitals all the time. Problems with depth perception can lead to double vision, headaches and sore eyes. These problems can also increase risk of falling, make hand-eye tasks harder, and cause distress.
Right now, testing depth perception is not included in current dementia-friendly eyetest guidelines. We don’t know how common depth perception problems are amongst people with dementia, or whether they interact with other eye-related markers of dementia, like changes in the pupil (the black middle part of the eye), or letter chart vision. We also don’t know if changes in these things over time match up with changes in memory test scores, sleep quality, or the visual areas of the brain on scans.
We want to test up to 210 people with a recent dementia diagnosis (within last 18 months), who attend Surrey and Borders Partnership community clinics. They'll complete a sleep questionnaire and some eye tests three times over an 8 month period to see if their depth perception, letter chart vision and pupil functions change in this time, and whether these relate to any changes in memory test scores or sleep quality. For 30 people with Alzheimer’s Disease, we will invite them to have a brain scan (magnetic resonance imaging, MRI) and wear a sleep-tracker after the first and final visit. This sees if changes in their test results relate to changes in visual areas of the brain.
If we find these simple, non-invasive tests of eyesight can predict dementia progression, including depth perception testing within dementia-friendly eyetests would be helpful. Eye testing could present an alternative way of monitoring progression of dementia.
REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
18/WA/0292
Date of REC Opinion
24 Sep 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion