Aim(s): To examine the impact of VR on the understanding of emotions, cognitions and behaviours for people living with dementia among health professionals and carers.
Research
DRNI Members Research is a list of ongoing and completed research carried out by DRNI members.
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This project examined personhood in dementia within formal care provision and relationships in Ireland. The concept of personhood within the context of formal care was examined through three different lenses: formal care policy, formal care settings and formal care relationships. Each lens provides different insights and perspectives into personhood in dementia and at both the macro and micro level of formal care provision. The central research question was: How is personhood in dementia conceptualised, expressed, facilitated and actualised in formal care in Ireland?
Project Aim(s): To perform a systematic analysis of tiRNA – protein complexes in ALS and Epilepsy models as well as samples from patients.
Project Aim(s): To develop and promote resilience in family carers of people with dementia.
Project Aim(s): To validate a cognitive communication assessment for people with dementia.
Project Aim(s): To review published cognitive–communication assessments to determine what psychometrically sound assessments exist that are applicable to all people with dementia.
Project Aim(s): Our overall aim is to revise existing phenotypic classifications using pathways and network analyses to generate newer more biologically classifications based on causative mechanisms, potential new therapeutic drug targets and indications, treatment response profiles and clinical sub-phenotypes.
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases (AD and PD) are the two most common neurodegenerative conditions. They cause major costs for society and suffering and death for millions of patients around the globe. In Europe, more than 8 million individuals have AD or PD. Current treatments are symptomatic but do not stop the underlying disease process. Using biomarkers, we can detect biochemical changes that show when neurons start to die. There are also biochemical tests for brain changes that are specific to AD and PD.
One promising approach for the treatment of PD is cellular brain repair whereby the cells that have died in the condition are replaced by transplantation of healthy cells into the brain. However, this approach has faced several limitations including poor survival of the transplanted cells in the PD brain. To address this limitation, we have recently shown that biomaterials - that is, materials that have been specifically engineered to interact with living systems for therapeutic purposes – have the potential to dramatically improve cellular brain repair for PD.
BrainMatTrain focuses on a comprehensive understanding of Parkinson’s disease, from basics to translation, fully supported by eight full partners (four research institutions, two hospitals, two SMEs) and one partner organisation (SME specialist in device design). This European Training Network will educate and train 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) in functionalised biomaterials, materials science, functionalisation strategies, molecular biology, stem cell biology, in vitro model systems, in vivo neuroimaging, preclinical models and prototype design.