Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia. Currently, the cause is unknown, and there is no cure for this devastating disease. It is progressive and irreversible; the effects impact a patient's memory, thinking skills, and ability to carry out simple tasks.
HMRI’s passionate team of researchers has been committed to solving the puzzle of Alzheimer’s disease for over two decades. Through longitudinal studies, they investigate biomarkers for early detection, changes in cognition, and comorbidities associated with neurodegeneration and brain aging.
Today, renowned epidemiologist Astrid Suchy-Dicey, PhD, leads HMRI’s formalized Brain Aging Study. Her research on Alzheimer’s disease focuses on enhancing methodology for analyzing and interpreting data related to imaging, biomarkers, cognitive testing, and social determinants, and she is dedicated to unraveling health disparities in neurodegenerative diseases. As HMRI’s research on Alzheimer’s disease continues to advance, the future of the Brain Aging Study includes the expansion of recruitment to reflect the population of Pasadena and surrounding communities, including more representation of Hispanic-Latino, African-American, Asian, and other racial/ethnic groups.
The early stages of Alzheimer’s disease are difficult to identify. HMRI’s Brain Aging Study helps scientists better understand the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease to develop effective treatments while patients can still function independently. This study aims to provide insights into Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology and mechanisms of brain aging, and to discover pre-symptomatic biomarkers that characterize early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Study investigators, therefore, focus the study on recruiting individuals who are still cognitively healthy or in the early stages of the disease. They then follow participants longitudinally to observe changes in cognition, imaging, and other biomarkers as they age.
HMRI’s Brain Aging Study currently examines six core areas: Urine and plasma lipid biomarkers; cognitive function and network biomarkers using electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS); stroke neuroprotection; stroke model; and retinal scan biomarkers.
The Biomarker and Neuro-disease Mechanism Laboratory, led by Alfred Fonteh, examines lipid biomarkers found in urine and plasma. Together with postdoctoral fellow Joby Jose, PhD, they explore the correlation between energy-related and oxidatively derived short-chain and medium-chain lipids in cognitively healthy (CH), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) subjects. Additionally, they are investigating the fluctuations of brain-derived lipids in subjects at various stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Other significant studies include the correlation between bioenergetics and mitochondrial dysfunction and disturbances in the neuromodulator pathways associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Cognitive Function and Network Biomarkers
The Cognition and Brain Integration Laboratory, led by Xianghong Arakaki, MD, PhD, studies cognitive changes in asymptomatic or early-stage AD subjects. Using data from Electroencephalogram (EEG) studies and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), Dr. Arakaki and postdoctoral fellow Abdulhakim Al-Ezzi examine differences in cognitive connectivity and functional changes in the brain among people with low and high risk of developing AD. Researchers are focused on developing novel neurophysiological biomarkers to characterize pre-symptomatic AD, with the aim of improving early detection and predicting symptom onset. This approach provides rich data for systems biology modeling in AD research and other neurological diseases.
Stroke Neuroprotection
Vascular brain injury, such as from stroke, is a significant comorbid condition with neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s disease, and exacerbation of either condition may accelerate pathology and symptom onset overall. Despite decades of prevention efforts, stroke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality – every 40 seconds, someone in the US has a stroke, affecting more than 795,000 annually. HMRI’s cardiovascular researchers are examining emerging evidence from animal studies suggesting that sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, licensed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, may also have neuroprotective effects.
Stroke Model
As part of the commitment to studying the heart-brain connection, and especially the influence of stroke and vascular injury on subsequent risk of neuronal death and neurodegenerative diseases, researchers have developed a model for examining stroke and subsequent changes in brain oxygenation and blood flow in vivo. This EEG-based model, combined with real-time laser doppler flowmetry (LDF), measures brain oxygenation levels, enables real-time monitoring of brain activity during and after stroke, and the examination of associations with heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate fragmentation (HRF).
Retinal Scan Biomarkers
Collaborators with HMRI investigators continue their ongoing work with the data collection of retinal scans among people with varying levels of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers (ptau217, total tau, ptau231, ptau181). In a preliminary analysis, researchers detected a correlation between retinal thinning and neurodegeneration in early Alzheimer’s disease.
Help uncover the causes of Alzheimer’s disease and pioneer early detection tests.
You can potentially volunteer if you are at least 60 years old, live in Pasadena or the surrounding areas, and are cognitively healthy. You will be interviewed about your medical history and asked to undergo voluntary, non-invasive and minimally invasive tests. These may include physical exam, cognitive testing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), lumbar puncture, blood draw, electroencephalography (EEG), retinal scan, and other examinations related to brain aging.
You’ll make three to five visits, each about one to four hours long, over the course of three months – all our facility in Pasadena, California. These visits will be repeated every two years. You’ll be compensated for your time.
Interested? Please contact HMRI Brain Aging Study at brainaging@hmri.org or call 626.389.3421. Click the button below to learn more and get started today.
