Visual Impairments Predict Dementia 12 Years In Advance

One of the topics that scientists have been working on most in recent years is dementia stands out as. A new, long-term scientific study enables the diagnosis of dementia as early as 12 years by tracking changes in vision.

in Norfolk, England 8 thousand 623 The study, which started with healthy participants, spread over many years. At the end of the study, participants 537 of It was observed that he developed dementia. The researchers, who regularly tested the participants’ visual abilities, encountered interesting results.

People who develop dementia have slower reactions

At the beginning of the study, participants were asked to watch dots moving on a screen and create a triangle each time the dots formed a triangle. pressing the button was requested. Reaction time in this visual sensitivity test the slower ones It turns out they are more prone to developing dementia.

According to researchers, the reason for this situation is Alzheimer’s It may be that toxic amyloid plaques associated with diabetes first form in the part of the brain responsible for vision. In this case, as the disease progresses, it begins to affect the memory-related parts of the brain. Vision sensitivity tests can be an important diagnostic tool in this regard.

Alzheimer’s or dementia patients vision skills problems It has been revealed before. People with these disorders cannot clearly distinguish the edges of objects and begin to lose their perception of contrast. Additionally, their responses to “distracting stimuli” change over time.

The research was published on PubMed.