A new research study from our lab was highlighted in the UW Medicine newsroom:
Alzheimer’s vision study improved with home tests
The new study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, describes the inaugural cohort of the Eye ACT study,, which follows older adults with the goal of identifying retinal biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Data including visual function, retinal imaging, and retrospective eye health information is collected from participants, who will be followed over time for any changes in their visual data as well as for development of dementia.
Cecilia Lee is the principle investigator of EyeACT, and in the UW news article she describes a key component of the study: visiting the homes of certain participants who are unable to travel to a research clinic due to more complex health/mobility issues and collecting retinal imaging and clinical eye data from these patients using portable equipment. Previous work by the Adult Changes in Thought study (the parent study from which EyeACT recruits participants) has found that including data from older adults who unable to travel to a research clinic is essential to capturing the full picture of aging and dementia development.
EyeACT also collects retinal imaging and visual function assessments from patients who come into the clinic. The study will continue to follow these patients over time, but early examination of the initial data found that patients who were assessed at home had significantly worse visual function than those seen in clinic, highlighting the importance of including these patients to better understand the relationship between aging eyes and aging brains.
You can read more about the Eye ACT study in the recently published paper:
Eye Adult Changes in Thought (Eye ACT) Study: Design and Report on the Inaugural Cohort
Lee CS, Ferguson AN, Gibbons LE, Walker R, Su YR, Krakauer C, Brush M, Kam J, Larson EB, Arterburn DE, Crane PK; Eye ACT Study Group:. Eye Adult Changes in Thought (Eye ACT) Study: Design and Report on the Inaugural Cohort. J Alzheimers Dis. 2024;100(1):309-320. doi: 10.3233/JAD-240203. PMID: 38875039.