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Dementia Research and Care

More recently, some of our research has focused on improving dementia care and treatment.

1. ALLADIN Project - Dementia Care via Telemedicine: As part of a 1.9 million Euros Ambient Assisted Living European Commission grant to a research consortium, we developed and evaluated an internet platform for Telemedicine assessment and care of people with dementia and their carers. Based on evidence showing that carer burden was one of the main factors determining nursing home placement of people with dementia, the aim of this ALADDIN project was to use Telemedicine to minimize carer burden and risk of institutionalization of people with dementia. The results of a randomized controlled pilot study across three clinical centres in the UK (our centre at the National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery), Barcelona and Athens, were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Torkamani M, McDonald L, Aguayo IS, Kanios C, Katsanou MN, Madeley L, Limousin PD, Lees AJ, Haritou M, Jahanshahi M. A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study to Evaluate a Technology Platform for the Assisted Living of People with Dementia and their Carers. J Alzheimers Dis. 2014 Mar 18. [Epub ahead of print]

 

2. DBS of NBM for dementia: In collaboration with Professor Foltynie and Dr Gratwicke and other members of the Functional Neurosurgery Unit and colleagues in the Dementia Research Centre, NHNN and Newcastle University, we have completed two safety and feasibility trials of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the Nucleus Basalis of Meynert (NBM) for Parkinson’s Disease dementia and Dementia Lewy Bodies. All 12 patients have successfully completed the trials, including ‘blinded’ cross-over phases with DBS on versus off. The results of these projects have established the safety and feasibility of DBS of NBM for dementia and are being prepared for publication. The pointers to a positive impact from these feasibility studies need to be confirmed in future larger scale randomized controlled trials.

Gratwicke J, Jahanshahi M, Foltynie T Parkinson’s disease dementia: a neural network perspective. Brain, 2015 Apr 16. pii: awv104. [Epub ahead of print] Review

Gratwicke J, Kahan J, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Limousin P, Foltynie T, Jahanshahi M. The nucleus basalis of Meynert: A new target for deep brain stimulation in dementia? Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013 Sep 11. doi:pii: S0149-7634(13)00206-6. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.003. [Epub ahead of print]

Gratwicke J, Zrinzo L, Kahan J, Peters A, Beigi M, Akram H, Hyam J, Oswal A, Day B, Mancini L, Thornton J, Yousry T, Limousin P, Hariz M, Jahanshahi M* , Foltynie T* (*shared authorship). Nucleus Basalis of Meynert Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson’s dementia. Submitted.

 

 

3. Member of BPS DAG and RESPOND: In the past two years I have been a member of two collaborative groups which aim to maximize psychological contributions to dementia assessment and care. The Dementia Advisory Group (DAG) of the British Psychological Society (BPS) led by Prof Linda Clare aims to highlight the specific contributions of psychologists to the diagnosis and care of people with dementia and their carers. To this aim, DAG has just published a document (see below).

The aim of the RESPOND (Research on the psychological rehabilitation of neurodegenerative disorders) consortium is to identify the cognitive and behavioural challenges commonly faced by sufferers of various forms of dementia and their carers namely dementia in Parkinsonism, Huntington’s Disease, frontotemporal dementia, motor neuron disease, and to develop appropriate psychological interventions.

Gratwicke J, et al Nucleus Basalis of Meynert Deep Brain Stimulation in Lewy Body Dementia. In Preparation.
 

“Psychological dimensions of dementia: putting the person at the centre of care” (BPS publications, 2016).

Clare L, Teale JC, Toms G, Kudlicka O, Evans I, Abrahams S, Goldstein LH, Hindle JV, Ho AK, Jahanshahi M, Langdon D, Morris R, Snowden J, Davies R, Markova I, Busse M, Thompson-Coon J. Cognitive rehabilitation, self-management, psychotherapeutic and caregiver support interventions in progressive neurodegenerative conditions: a scoping review.  Submitted