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It has been shown that virtual reality game-based applications and especially virtual supermarkets can detect MCI. Past studies have utilized user performance in such applications along with data from standardized neuropsychological tests in order to detect MCI. The team that conducted this study was the first scientific team to achieve reliable MCI detection using a virtual reality game-based application on its own. In that previous study , administration of the virtual super market (VSM) exercise was conducted by an examiner. The present study eliminated the need for an examiner by calculating the average performance of older adults using a special version of the VSM application, the VSM Remote Assessment Routine (VSM-RAR), at home on their own, for a period of one month. It is the first instance where a self-administered virtual reality application was used to detect MCI with a high degree of reliability. The research team included scientists from the Aristotle University of The...

The study of the development of Alzheimer's disease on a molecular level presents unique challenges, as neurons behave differently in vivo vs. in vitro. Using mice as models presents useful insights, but mouse models never fully develop the disease, despite the fact that their brains and neurons share many similarities with those of humans. A new, humanized model A team of researchers has now transplanted human neurons into mouse brains which mimick some of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, including the presence of amyloid plaques. They found that, compared to mouse neurons, human neurons were much more sensitive to amyloid plaque pathology. This novel model allows for a better characterization of the disease processes that actually take place in the brain of human patients. Much of the work was performed in close cooperation with prof. Pierre Vanderhaeghen (ULB-WELBIO, VIB-KULeuven), whose lab previously pioneered the technology to differentiate human pluripote...

Mild cognitive impairment is a transitional state between normal age-related changes in cognition and dementia. Because many people with the condition display symptoms similar to those caused by Alzheimer's disease, some physicians prescribe donepezil, which is marketed under the brand name Aricept and is the most-prescribed medication for Alzheimer's. Donepezil was tested as a possible treatment for mild cognitive impairment in a large, federally funded study published in 2005, but it was not approved by the FDA. Still, doctors have often prescribed the drug "off-label" -- meaning that it is not approved for that specific disorder -- for their patients with mild cognitive impairment. From data collected during the 2005 trial, the researchers looked at the association between BChE-K and changes in cognitive function. Using two tests that measure cognitive impairment, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes, they found ...