First-of-its-kind test can predict dementia up to 9 years before diagnosis, scientists say [Video]

RESEARCHERS have developed a first-of-its-kind test that could predict dementia up to nine years before a diagnosis – and with 80 per cent accuracy.

The new test is more accurate than other commonly used methods, like memory tests or measurements of brain shrinkage, researchers claim.

It involves analysing network of connections in the brain when it’s in “idle mode” to look for very early signs of the condition.

The technique has the “potential to fill an enormous clinical gap” by identifying people who are at risk of dementia and treating them before symptoms start to show, scientists said.

The team at Queen Mary University of London – lead by Professor Charles Marshall – developed the test by analysing scans to detect changes in the brain’s ‘default mode network’ (DMN).

The DMN connects regions of the brain to perform …