There are many active research projects accessing and applying shared ADNI data. Use the search above to find specific research focuses on the active ADNI investigations. This information is requested annually as a requirement for data access.
| Principal Investigator | |
| Principal Investigator's Name: | Mariya Chepisheva |
| Institution: | Imperial College London |
| Department: | Brain Sciences |
| Country: | |
| Proposed Analysis: | Dear All, I am a last year PhD Candidate from Imperial College London, UK investigating the vestibular contribution of spatial and postural processing in patients with central affections of the nervous system. Alzheimer's disease patients are one of my cohorts of patients. The vestibular system is a vital contributor to spatial and postural processing but is often omitted during the clinical examination even in a prominent disorder such as AD where spatial and postural disabilities are common. Consequently, AD patients are rarely referred to vestibular therapy even if there is good scientific evidence that such a therapy could improve many aspects of their activities of daily living and in general, their quality of life. My research in Alzheimer's disease concentrates on the central vestibular system and has shown that AD patients with preserved peripheral vestibular apparatus exhibit a decreased spatial orientation under vestibular guidance (by performing 3 vestibular based spatial laboratory tasks – vestibular self-motion perception, vestibular egocentric and vestibular allocentric tasks). In addition, patients show an increased postural instability (imbalance), mainly of a vestibular nature. Still, they retain a normal vestibulo-ocular reflex, despite other vestibular abnormalities. Unfortunately, no imaging data is available for these patients to establish a further link to pathology. By filling in this application, I am expressing my interest in examining the clinical data of Alzheimer's patients and look for: - any indication of vestibular spatial and/or vestibular postural impairment reports as based on the clinical notes during the neurological examinations. Consequently, it will be important to report the (1) frequency of vestibular dysfunction reports in AD and (2) referral rate to appropriate therapy and/or (3) outcome for the patients. For this purpose, I would need access to Clinical data (- demographics; - neurological exam; - vital signs; - cognitive assessment; - medications and - diagnostic summary). In case, this "vestibular signs"-investigation proves to be a success (i.e., there are enough reports about vestibular related features), I can additionally request imaging data of the patients with vestibular features to perform VBM, DTI and rfMRI and try to correlate vestibular abnormalities with brain pathology.(This, I have already done as part of my PhD for acute traumatic brain injury patients, who form another cohort of patients I investigate). Thus, by stressing upon the importance of the vestibular system implementation in the overall effort for a better facilitation and improved treatment for AD patients, I hope to contribute to our understanding of the neural mechanisms of vestibular spatial and postural dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. Thank you very much for considering my application! best wishes, Mariya Chepisheva (Importantly, this is not a funded initiative, but expresses my own research interest as a scientist who studies Alzheimer's disease) |
| Additional Investigators |
