Study shows hope for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's

Research by faculty and staff at Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J.; the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; and Drexel University may lead to better diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
In a $1.1-million National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging study that team members conducted during the last three years, they determined early Alzheimer’s could be diagnosed with a high rate of accuracy evaluating electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The study may lead to an earlier diagnosis, and therefore earlier treatment and improved quality of life, for people at the earliest stages of the disease.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the condition affects more than 5 million Americans, approximately 1.5 percent of the population. That number is only expected to grow. (For information on Alzheimer’s disease, visit http://www.alz.org/documents/FSADFacts.pdf.)
Rowan University electrical and computer engineering associate professor Dr. Robi Polikar conducted the research with Dr. Christopher Clark, associate professor of neurology, associate director of the NIH-sponsored Alzheimer's Disease Center at Penn and director of the Penn Memory Center, and with Dr. John Kounios, a Drexel psychology professor.