Washington University Early Recognition Center is conducting a research study to examine brain functional connectivity and network patterns in participants with dementia.
This study extends the assessment of brain connectivity and function, being conducted in the Human Connectome Project (HCP), to psychiatrically ill populations. The HCP consortium has made significant improvements in MRI instrumentation, data acquisition, preprocessing, and analysis. These improvements are currently providing publicly available data on the structure, function, and connectivity of young adult human (age 22-35) brains at unprecedented spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and accuracy. This study will focus on individuals aged 45-85 years who have a diagnosis of dementia, or are healthy controls. Additionally, similar to the HCP, the investigator will study the effect of genetics on the patterns of brain connectivity in various psychiatric populations. DNA will be collected non-invasively from saliva. Furthermore, this investigator will study cortisol levels in hair samples as an additional assessment to help characterize brain imagining findings.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
30
Up to two Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan sessions will be done, altogether totaling just under 3 hours of scanning. MR scanners measure brain anatomy and activity using very strong magnets. No X-rays or radiation are involved.
Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires and will be asked questions that address a broad range of personal life experiences involving social, occupational, domestic, and other behaviors.
Washington University School of Medicine
St Louis, Missouri, United States
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Brain Imaging
The current project aims to uncover latent, homogenous, connectivity phenotypes using neuroimaging tools, which are free from the limitations of traditional diagnostic boundaries, and which correlate with clinical characteristics. The investigator will use resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI), diffusion MRI (dMRI) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to identify brain signatures that cut across psychiatric disorders.
Time frame: within one month of study enrollment
DNA testing through saliva
Saliva samples will be collected from participants for DNA extraction and the development of lymphoblastoid cell lines. DNA is used for research purposes only, for studies assessing brain connectivity.
Time frame: within one month of study enrollment
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