Cerebral Haemodynamic Changes During Cognitive Testing: A fTCD Study

Summary

850,000 people live with dementia in the UK, with that number expected to rise to more than 1 million within the next 5 years. The most common type of dementia (55%) is Alzheimer's dementia, and vascular dementia is the second commonest type (15%). Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) affects up to 20% of older adults and describes a set of symptoms rather than a specific medical condition or disease. A person with MCI has subtle problems with one or more of the following: day-to-day memory, concentrating, planning or organising, language (eg struggling to find the right word), and judging distances and seeing objects properly. Although MCI significantly increases the risk of developing dementia (by up to 5 times), at present it is not possible to accurately predict which patients with MCI will progress to dementia. In recent times there has been an increasing awareness that problems with brain blood flow may contribute to the development, or progression, of dementia. Tests of mental abilities, with standardised questions and pen-and-paper tests are a key component of the formal diagnosis of dementia, yet little is known of the effects of these tests on brain blood flow. Brain blood flow can be can be assessed non-invasively by the use of Trans Cranial Doppler (TCD). This means using ultrasound probes over both sides of the head to measure changes in blood flow in one of the main brain arteries (the middle cerebral artery). This proposed study will therefore use TCD to evaluate changes in brain blood flow during performance of the Addenbrooke's-III (ACE-III) cognitive assessment in four key groups of patients, specifically:

1. Healthy older adults
2. Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
3. Patients with vascular dementia
4. Patients with Alzheimer's dementia

Conditions

• Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Alzheimer Disease
• Vascular Dementia
• Healthy Controls

Interventions

OTHER

Transcranial doppler ultrasonography

Measurement of cerebral blood flow whilst undertaking cognitive tasks with TCD monitoring.

OTHER

Blood pressure monitoring

Continuous blood pressure recording

OTHER

Heart rate monitoring

Continuous heart rate monitoring

OTHER

End tidal CO2 monitoring

Continuous ETCO2 monitoring

OTHER

Addenbrooke's cognitive examination

Performance of a memory test

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Leicester

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Thompson G Robinson, MD · University of Leicester

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

100 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-05-05

Primary Completion

2017-12-01

Completion

2017-12-01

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations