VR testing of entorhinal-hippocampal function in AD (VIRTECH-AD)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
VIrtual Reality Testing of Entorhinal Cortex and Hippocampal function in early Alzheimer's disease (VIRTECH-AD)
IRAS ID
193437
Contact name
Dennis Chan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
We will address one of the greatest challenges in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), that of accurate diagnosis prior to
dementia. We will do so by testing the functions of the entorhinal cortex (EC) and hippocampus, the first brain
regions to exhibit degeneration in AD. While the hippocampus plays a role in memory, it is specifically involved
in spatial memory (memory for places) and we have shown that spatial memory testing is superior to current
memory tests at detecting pre-dementia AD. Since AD affects the EC before the hippocampus, additional
detection of changes in EC function may improve early diagnosis. The EC is involved in spatial navigation
(getting from A to B) but this is hard to assess using desk-based tests, so we will use virtual reality/augmented
reality (VR/AR) technologies, which simulate movement within artificial environments, to test EC and
hippocampal function in pre-dementia AD.
We will first test patients with mild cognitive impairment. If this pilot succeeds, we will apply these tests to
people at even earlier stages of AD, before symptom onset, to improve diagnosis and to identify those
individuals who may benefit from lifestyle changes and future drug trials aimed at delaying or preventing the
onset of dementia.REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0215
Date of REC Opinion
20 Jun 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion