Your eyes reveal the future: Vision as an early indicator of dementia

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A study published in February of this year year on PubMed reveals that visual loss could predict the onset of dementia up to 12 years before it is diagnosed. By examining a fairly large sample of 8,623 healthy people in Norfolk, England, the researchers found that 537 of the participants had developed dementia in the years that followed.

These findings suggest that the medical community may need to reconsider the importance of visual sensitivity tests to detect the disease early.

Eyes: First Witnesses of Cognitive Decline

In this study, the participants underwent a visual sensitivity test. Their task was to report as quickly as possible the appearance of a triangle within a field of moving dots.

People who would later develop dementiawere apparently slow in detecting this geometric shape, contrasting with the liveliness of their counterparts intended to maintain good cognitive health.

This perceptual latency is probably explained by the action of amyloid plaques (deposits of abnormal proteins that accumulate in the brain), markers of Alzheimer's disease, which initially seem to target the brain areas dedicated to vision before attacking the memory regions.

Several aspects of visual processing are altered by Alzheimer's disease, including the ability to discern the contours of objects and differentiate certain chromatic nuances. Contrast sensitivity and perception of the blue-green spectrum are frequently affected early on, influencing the daily lives of those affected, often without their knowledge.

Telltale eye movements

Another warning sign of this pathology is the deficit in the inhibitory control of eye movements. People with dementia seem to be more likely to pay attention to extraneous stimuli, indicating a failure in the regulation of eye movements. This tendency to succumb to visual distractions could increase the risk of road accidents, an issue currently being investigated by researchers at Loughborough University (England).

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In addition to these eye movements, people with dementia often have an abnormality in processing faces they encounter. Unlike healthy individuals who analyze faces according to a classic eyes-nose-mouth pattern, people with dementia deviate from this typical pattern, resulting in impaired facial recognition.

This difficulty in printing faces could result more from an inefficiency of eye movements than from a simple memory disorder.

What therapeutic applications are possible ?

While previous studies have produced disparate results, Some recent research suggests a promising link between eye movements and improved memory skills.

For example, these researchers put forward a specific hypothesis in this study: individuals who frequently watch television or read could enjoy a better memory and a reduced risk of dementia. These activities, by requiring regular eye movements, could contribute to optimizing cognitive performance.

Nevertheless, despite these encouraging findings, the use of eye movements as a therapeutic tool in the elderly remains marginal. Similarly, the use of ocular deficits for diagnostic purposes has not yet gained popularity, despite the considerable potential offered by eye-tracking technologies.

• Researchers have found that vision problems can appear up to 12 years before Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed.
• Amyloid plaques appear to first damage areas of the brain related to vision before moving on to memory.
• These new findings open up exciting prospects for developing new diagnostic tools based on vision analysis.

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