Grant: Project Grant

Blood tests capable of diagnosing Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia, have been recently been approved for use in clinical practice. Although these blood tests are a major step forward in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, they have several limitations. First, blood tests for other types of dementia, such as frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, and vascular dementia, still need to be developed. Second, the current tests cannot accurately identify the stage of Alzheimer's Disease a particular patient is in. Third, existing tests do not predict future cognitive decline. Thus, this study aims to develop new blood tests for different types of dementias. This will be done by measuring 220 proteins in a single blood sample using a new and highly sensitive technology. To determine which proteins detect specific pathologies, we will measure blood samples from participants whose brains have already been examined at autopsy and have been classified into the different pathological types listed above. By comparing across groups, we will see what blood proteins are changed in each pathological group. We will then measure these biomarkers in participants at different stages of cognitive impairment and dementia to determine at what point we start to see changes in biomarkers to improve early detection and disease staging. Finally, we will determine whether there are biomarkers that can predict how quickly cognitive problems get worse. Development of such blood tests will improve the diagnosis of multiple types of dementia even early in disease course, which will greatly aid in developing new targeted treatments for dementias.