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Have you ever thought about why some people develop age-related neurodegenerative diseases, like dementia or Parkinson’s disease, while other people live their whole lives without such a diagnosis?

Ongoing research at The University of Adelaide needs your help to answer this critical question.

It’s natural for certain types of motor or cognitive function to change as we get older. For example, you may find that you get a bit slower at performing some everyday tasks. Or that you forget certain things more easily.

However, in some individuals, these changes in motor or cognitive function become quite severe, leading eventually to a diagnosis of a neurodegenerative brain disorder, such as dementia or Parkinson’s disease.

Despite how common such diagnoses are, however, with most people knowing someone whose life has been touched by one of these conditions, there are still key questions that remain about what factors increase the risk of developing dementia or Parkinson’s disease.

Interestingly, one risk factor that is common across neurodegenerative diseases, including both dementia and Parkinson’s disease, is a past history of traumatic brain injury or TBI. In fact, it has been proposed that as many as 5-15% of all dementia cases may be due to TBI.

Similarly, a mild TBI or concussion can increase risk of Parkinson’s by 56%, while a more severe injury can increase risk by 83%. Despite this growing recognition, however, it is still unclear which factors link brain injury to the later development of neurodegenerative disease.

This is important, as we know that only a subset of individuals is at risk of such an outcome following a brain injury. Understanding who is at increased risk and why is a critical first step in allowing for earlier identification and treatment of these individuals, which may lead to better long-term outcomes following brain injury and, ultimately, a reduction in the number of neurodegenerative disease cases.

In order to investigate this, researchers at the University of Adelaide are combining novel cognitive and motor testing with cutting edge brain imaging and biomarker analysis.

But the researchers can’t do it alone!

This is where you come in.

Do you have Parkinson’s disease or know someone who does?

Or have you ever experienced a concussion or traumatic brain injury?

If so, you can make a critical contribution to this research!

Please click on the following links for more information on how to participate:

• Research on Parkinson’s disease
• Research on brain injury

If you’re interested in learning more about ongoing research in these areas in South Australia and how you can participate (or even just wondering what participating in such research involves), a more detailed free information session will be held at the National Wine Centre on 3 February 2023, with the opportunity to hear from several local researchers.

Please click here to register by 28 January 2023.
Alternatively, please contact the research team via email, cns_laboratory@adelaide.edu.au.

Together, we can all lead the fight against neurodegenerative disease, one hit at a time!