Amyloid deposition and the glymphatic system assessed simultaneously in Alzheimer’s disease using PET/MRI
Project Overview
Poor sleep is a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. This is likely due to sleep’s role in removing waste products from the brain. There is currently no way to view this waste removal process without posing a risk to the individual, but new approaches using medical imagining technologies may be able to help. This study will use several magnetic resonance imaging scans to gain information on how waste is cleared by the brain. By using several scans together, we can get a more complete picture of this waste removal process. Scans can also be used to better understand how much of the toxic waste products have accumulated in the brain over time. These waste accumulation and removal processes within the brain have not been previously studied using a medical imaging approach. If we find that the waste clearance process is not working properly within people living with Alzheimer’s disease, it could lead to innovations for both treatment and prevention. Measuring the brain’s waste clearance process with medical imaging will allow more detailed study in future. If the waste clearance process is not working properly within people living with Alzheimer’s disease, it could be an area of treatments and preventative study.
Principal Investigator
Reggie Taylor , The University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research
Partners and Donors
Alzheimer Society of Canada