University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Research Study Highlight

Aging Behind the Wheel: How Driving Behavior Can Identify Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted on

Dementia impacts a person’s ability to complete day-to-day activities like familiar tasks at work or at home. What if we could identify these changes in everyday behaviors early enough to identify preclinical Alzheimer’s disease? That’s what Dr. Sayeh Bayat, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, looked to find out. Dr. Bayat is the lead author of a recent paper highlighting how driving behaviors such as braking, following the speed limit and the number of trips taken could predict preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Bayat joined the podcast to share findings from the paper and discuss some of the ways engineering and machine learning can help us discover more about dementia and aging.

Guest: Sayeh Bayat, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary

Global Challenges in Dementia Diagnosis: A Deep Dive into ADI’s World Alzheimer’s Report 2021

Posted on

Alzheimer’s Disease International’s World Alzheimer’s Report 2021 recently found that 75% of people with dementia are undiagnosed, equating to 41 million people across the globe. The report, subtitled “Journey through the diagnosis of dementia,” also found clinician stigma is still a major barrier to diagnosis, and one in three believe nothing can be done about dementia. Dr. Serge Gauthier, co-author of the report, joins the podcast to discuss these findings, recommendations for improving dementia diagnoses, and more from the report.

Guest: Serge Gauthier, CM, MD

AARP Study Shows Stigma Surrounding Dementia among Healthcare Professionals and General Public

Posted on

With the numerous efforts currently focused on educating the public about dementia, from clinical programs to research to podcasts (like this one), how much is stigma surrounding cognitive decline affecting public understanding?

On today’s podcast, Sarah Lock, Senior Vice President for Policy for AARP, discusses just that. This year, the AARP published a report on a survey focused on how the general American population and particular subgroups perceive dementia and dementia diagnoses. The survey found that the general public and health care professionals have many misperceptions about dementia, including overestimations about their likelihood to develop dementia and the shame they might feel about a diagnosis. Describing the contrasting perceptions between clinicians and the public and the impacts of stigma on dementia policy, Lock details the ways this survey will allow the AARP to build on their existing programs about brain health to better educate the public about dementia and the ways it affects a person’s life.

Guest: Sarah Lenz Lock, Senior Vice President for Policy, AARP, Executive Director of the Global Council on Brain Health

Safely Disclosing Amyloid Results with Alzheimer’s Disease Research Participants

Posted on

Dr. Lindsay Clark’s new study will evaluate the psychological consequences of disclosing amyloid test results to cognitively unimpaired adults. Dr. Clark joins the podcast to define amyloid accumulation and discuss how her study will examine the process of revealing amyloid results to research participants in Alzheimer’s disease research studies.

Guest: Lindsay Clark, PhD, assistant professor, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Vitamin Deficiency and Its Impact on Brain Health

Posted on

A study from the University of Wisconsin found 40% of geriatric memory patients were deficient in at least one vitamin linked to brain health. Vitamins tested in this study included B1, B6, B12, and D, all of which play an important role in brain health. Dr. Robert Przybelski joins the podcast to discuss his study, the influence of vitamin deficiency on brain health, and the potential consequences of vitamin deficiency when treating a patient for a memory condition.

Guest: Robert Przybelski, MD, associate professor, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

It Takes Two to Tango: The Importance of Amyloid and Tau in Cognitive Decline

Posted on

Our guests, Dr. Rebecca Koscik and Dr. Tobey Betthauser, are researchers investigating the trajectory of amyloid and tau proteins over time and the significance of amyloid chronicity. Koscik and Betthauser discuss their two recent publications on the topic and how amyloid PET scans have helped scientists better understand the early brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Guests: Rebecca Koscik, PhD, senior scientist, Tobey Betthauser, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison

What We Have Learned from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention Study

Posted on

Our guest is Dr. Sterling Johnson, associate director of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and principal investigator of the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP) study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The WRAP study is one of the largest and longest-running observational studies of Alzheimer’s disease in the world. Dr. Johnson shares study findings, discusses advancements in brain imaging, and introduces the concept of amyloid chronicity.

Guest: Sterling Johnson, PhD, professor of medicine (geriatrics), University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

When Good Becomes Bad: Researching the Impact of Neuroinflammation

Posted on

Inflammation is a common response throughout the body that fights injury and infection and works to rebuild cells after damage. Inflammation works the same way in the brain, but sometimes the inflammatory response meets damage it can’t manage and becomes dysregulated. Our guest Dr. Linda Van Eldik discusses her research into the connections between neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases like dementia, and how this research can help inform the medical community about drug-based treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

Guest: Dr. Linda Van Eldik, Director, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging

Where’s the Connection? The Role of Synapses in Memory and Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted on

Synapses are points in the brain where two brain cells connect and communicate. Dr. Barbara Bendlin discusses her new research into synaptic change, its relationship to memory loss, and how her first-in-the-field research might one day lead to a new tool for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Guest: Barbara Bendlin, PhD, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

How Brain Autopsies Are Helping Further Dementia Research

Posted on

This week, we speak with Dr. Shahriar Salamat and Mr. Jay Fruehling to discuss brain donation research and how it helps give the most accurate diagnoses.

Guests: Dr. Shahriar Salamat, professor in the Department of Pathology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Mr. Jay Fruehling, Wisconsin Brain Bank Program Manager and community educator on brain donations at the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center