The type of dementia the team were studying was a rare type of language dementia known as primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Dr Rogalski said: “It is important to determine what Alzheimer’s looks like in PPA, because if it’s caused by something else, there is no sense in giving a patient an Alzheimer’s related drug, because it would be ineffective.”
Furthermore, first author of the paper Dr Adam Martersteck added: “This new technology is very exciting for Alzheimer’s research.
“Not only can we tell if a person is likely or unlikely to have Alzheimer’s disease causing their PPA, but we can see where it is in the brain. By understanding what the brain looks like in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, we hope to be able to diagnose people earlier and with better accuracy.”
When the research was published n 2016, it was considered to be the first study examine compare beta-amyloid build-up in the brain using the then new imaging technology which allowed them to show how beta-amyloid builds up differently compared to other forms of dementia.
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