Eyes can reveal a lot about the health of our brains. A new study has revealed that eye problems can be one of the first signs of cognitive decline, which can lead to dementia.
The study, prepared by a research team from the British University of Loughborough, showed that a decrease in “visual sensitivity,” which means a person’s ability to distinguish between fine details or slight color contrasts, are signs that predict dementia, 12 years before it is diagnosed, according to what was reported by the “website.”ScienceAlert“.
The study was based on research conducted over the years, for 8,623 people in Norfolk County, Britain. By the end of the study, 537 participants had developed dementia, which enabled researchers to find out what factors may precede a diagnosis with this disease.
At the beginning of the study, the researchers asked the participants to perform a visual sensitivity test, in which they had to press a button as soon as they saw a triangle forming in the field of moving dots. People who would develop dementia were much slower at seeing this triangle on the screen than people who would not develop it
What is the relationship between vision and dementia?
Visual problems may be an early sign of cognitive decline and dementia, because amyloid plaques, which are clumps of protein fragments that are toxic and harmful to nerve cells, often initially affect the areas of the brain responsible for vision, before extending to areas associated with memory as the disease progresses. For this reason, vision tests may detect problems before they show up in memory tests.
Alzheimer’s disease affects many visual abilities, including, for example, the ability to distinguish the boundaries and details of objects and distinguish between some colors, especially shades of blue and green, which are affected early in cases of dementia.
These changes may affect people’s daily lives without them noticing them at first, according to the website.
Another early sign of Alzheimer’s disease is difficulty controlling eye movement and concentration, as it is noted that distracting external stimuli attract the attention of sufferers more easily.
Alzheimer’s patients appear to have difficulty ignoring these distractions, which manifests as a lack of control over eye movements.
If dementia makes it difficult to ignore visual distractions, this may increase patients’ risk of driving accidents. This is the focus of the following research at Loughborough University.
Vision problems and memory performance
The website stated that there is a link between visual sensitivity and memory performance, which prompted researchers to study the effect of increasing eye movement on improving memory. Some studies have found that eye movement can enhance memory, and this may explain the observation that people who watch TV and read more have better memory and a lower risk of developing dementia.
The website says that while reading or watching television, the eyes move constantly, and people who read a lot usually have received education for a longer period, which provides a cognitive reserve that reduces the impact of brain damage.
Some studies have found that rapid eye movements from side to side (two movements per second) improve memory, but this effect appears to be limited to right-handed users only, without a clear knowledge of the reason.
Despite these promising results, eye movements have not been widely used to treat memory problems in the elderly or as a diagnostic tool for early dementia, perhaps because of the cost of eye movement tracking devices and the difficulty of using them outside the laboratory until cheaper and easier techniques are developed, according to Science Alert.
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