Blog: The Brain Dialogues, filtered by tag: Dementia research

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au Photo credit Brendan Esposito, ABC   Along with 6,000 other Australians, 77-year-old Paddy Goldsmith is playing a vital role in changing the future of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias through her participation in the Maintain Your Brain research trial. Led by the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at UNSW Sydney, Maintain Your Brain is the world’s largest internet-based trial aimed at preventing dementia. My motivation to be involved in research came after losing two friends to dementia; one of whom was especially dear to me, says… Read More

DR ANNE-NICOLE CASEY How people interact with and perceive one another, and each person’s thoughts and feelings about the quality of those interactions and relationships, can affect physical and mental health and well-being. Social cognitive function, which broadly refers to the way our brain processes social information, is recognised as an important marker of how efficiently our brain processes information in general1. Interestingly, the number of individuals with whom a person interacts frequently is associated with their short-term memory capacity2. Some studies report that having larger… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au Proceeds from the sale of a rich body of artwork by Sydney-based painter Naomi Lewis, who was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013 and passed away in 2017, have been donated to research at UNSW Sydney’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA). “Clearly this cause is an important one for me,” said Michelle McEwing, daughter of Naomi Lewis and coordinator of the art show held at the Ewart Gallery, Workshop Arts Centre in Willoughby. Mum’s great passions were her family, her community and painting. She would have wanted her final show to benefit a… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au In 1964, 34 year old Sydney-based painter Naomi Lewis was a proud finalist of the Archibald Prize.  50 years later in 2013, and with a history of her distinctive free-form art hanging throughout many Australian buildings including the Qantas first class lounges, The Hyatt in Canberra and St Vincent’s Hospital, this talented artist was diagnosed with vascular dementia. Last year, the artist - Naomi Lewis - passed away, leaving behind a rich body of work which will furnish an exhibition in her honour at the Ewart Gallery, Workshop Arts Centre in… Read More

This article was originally published in the Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation Annual Report 2015 – 2016 (PDF).   Thirty years ago, a passionate academic doctor had a vision... for dementia research in Australia to thrive. That individual, Scientia Professor Henry Brodaty AO became the driving force behind what is today the AADRF. After three decades at the helm of the AADRF, Professor Brodaty felt it was time to pass the baton and retire as Chair of the Board of Directors.   Professor Brodaty said back in 1984 the principles were simple, money raised for research should go… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au Co-Leader of CHeBA’s Molecular Biology group at CHeBA, Dr Nady Braidy continued his outstanding research record when he was awarded an Australian Research Council/Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) this month. The award provides funding for Dr Braidy to continue his ground-breaking research in the field of sirtuins. Sirtuins, or “silent information regulators” of gene transcription, are enzymes found in all life. Accumulating evidence suggests that they are key regulators of stress resistance, cell division and repair, and cell death.… Read More

DARREN LIPNICKI The Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium (COSMIC) is a collaborative effort of researchers from around the world. We identify important topics for research, and share data from longitudinal, population-based studies of cognitive ageing to create a better understanding of what causes dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Our current project is investigating whether there are differences between countries in how fast cognitive functioning declines in older individuals. Such differences could help explain why the prevalence of dementia varies around the… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au KATE CROSBIE The 22nd Meeting of the International Consortium for Cententarian (ICC) Studies held from June 15-19 in Portugal gave CHeBA researchers the opportunity to meet with collaborators and gain expert input on the progress of ICC-Dementia. Formed in 2012 and led by CHeBA (the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing), ICC-Dementia brings together international studies to apply standard diagnostic criteria for dementia in centenarian cohorts. This ‘big data’ approach will also allow the group to identify common risk and protective factors and biomarkers… Read More

KATE CROSBIE and HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au For John Stapleton, the best thing about being a twin was never being bullied at school: “There were always two of us to fight”. For Terry Stapleton, it’s the “stronger bond” between twins; that, and meeting John for a beer most Fridays at The Oaks in Neutral Bay. Both twins maintain a physically and mentally active life, but in different ways. These differences, as well as their similarities, are helping CHeBA researchers understand the role of genetic and environmental factors in cognition and healthy ageing. John and Terry… Read More

PROFESSOR DAVID AMES A geriatrician, a psychiatrist and a nurse (no this isn't the start of a joke!) have written a useful review outlining what is known about nine medical conditions that occur more often in people with dementia (PWD) than in other people. These syndromes are falls, delirium, epilepsy, weight loss and nutritional disorders, incontinence, sleep disturbance, visual dysfunction, oral disease and frailty. After an introductory chapter, nine further chapters outline published evidence about dementia and these nine co-morbidities. The writing is clear and concise and, as the… Read More