August 23, 2012

Are the eyes the key to a new test for Alzheimer's disease ?




A simple eye tracking test could hold the key to earlier Alzheimer’s diagnosis, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Aging Association.

Work, led by Lancaster University in partnership with Royal Preston Hospital, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has shown that people with Alzheimer’s disease have difficulty with one particular type of eye tracking test.

As part of the study, 18 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, 25 patients with Parkinson's disease, 17 healthy young people and 18 healthy older people were asked to follow the movements of light on a computer monitor, but in some instances they were asked to look the opposite way, away from the light.