R01AG081249

Robust detection of atrophy over short intervals in AD and FTLD - project summary

Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and other diseases that lead to dementia are one of the 21st century's major public health problems. This family of neurodegenerative diseases involves the disruption of functional brain circuits and ultimately the death of brain cells.

In living people, the standard measure of neurodegeneration is derived from brain MRI scans, which can quantitatively measure the location and amount of atrophy. This is traditionally done, and continues to be done in many studies, over intervals of one year, with one or two scans collected one year apart, estimating annualized rates of brain atrophy.

In some clinical trials, scans may be collected more frequently, but in one recent failed phase III trial aiming to slow neurodegeneration they were collected 80 weeks apart.

The goal of this work is to demonstrate that new methods we and our colleagues have developed are able to improve the sensitivity to detect atrophy within individuals over short intervals of time, down to as little as 3 months. This is done by making a large number of extremely fast, highly precise repeated measurements at each time point for each individual.

We aim to demonstrate the reliability and validity of these new MRI measures of neurodegeneration against traditional MRI measures and externally validated against PET and clinical measures in individuals with early-onset Alzheimer's disease or behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

If successful, this work could revolutionize the field and open the door to a new means to track neurodegeneration, potentially greatly facilitating clinical trials.

The General Hospital Corporation

TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM; TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT; TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT; AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS; TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS; TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT; AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.866 - Aging Research

National Institute on Aging (NIA) [HHS - NIH]

Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129 United States

Single Zip Code

NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (PA-20-185)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 298% from $834,693 to $3,322,078.