The AD Detect & Prevent project has sent the following report, with results from the first of four clinical studies to evaluate Brain+ ‘Starry Night’ cognitive test for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD): A study led by Professor Masud Husain, at the University of Oxford, has evaluated the feasibility and performance of a cognitive test that is intended for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), called "Starry Night". Brain+ developed the test as a gamified version of a lab-based test by Professor Husain’s team, which has been proven to be sufficiently sensitive to detect pre-symptomatic AD. The test works on the well-described clinical findings that individuals at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia but who exhibit no overt clinical symptoms show a particular cognitive deficit pattern related to memory and attention. The test is designed to run on smartphones and tablets so that people can use it from home, thus allowing for scalable and remote testing. AD can begin with pathological changes in the brain up to 20 years before symptoms appear, at which point the disease has already caused significant cognitive impairment. If AD can be detected at an earlier stage, it would allow more effective action to be taken with lifestyle interventions, traditional pharmaceuticals, digital therapeutics, or a combination of all of these. Thus, early detection is key.
The Oxford study of the Starry Night test examined a total of 131 healthy participants of all adult ages, including people over the age of 50. The objective of the study was to evaluate the test against the original lab test by comparing key outcomes. The results showed that the critical test outcomes were comparable between the two versions of the test, thus validating the feasibility of the test. As a secondary result, the study showed that individuals without regular access to neurology clinics could successfully use the test. This is important because it demonstrates that the test is suitable for scalable remote testing in people’s homes. The study is the first of four clinical studies; all evaluating the Starry Night test and expected to read out in 2022. Considering the findings from this study, Brain+ will now begin the planning of a large-scale trial to gather normative data on the test. This will provide a population performance baseline, against which to compare individuals at risk of developing AD for more effective future disease detection and treatment.
For more information, see the project website: https://www.addp.eu/ This project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme – Fast Track to Innovation (FTI), grant agreement 820636. The project coordinator, Brain+’s website and social media accounts:
Website: http://www.brain-plus.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebrainplus
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brain.plus.training/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brain-plus/mycompany/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/addp_eu