Mounting evidence suggests that dietary caffeine intake may exert some beneficial effects in reducing dementia risk and possibly Alzheimer’s disease, and may be a viable therapeutic approach. Clinical studies also suggest that caffeine is a cognitive normalizer and not a cognitive enhancer. Moreover, some clinical studies suggest the neuroprotective effect of caffeine might be confounded by gender.
Research
DRNI Members Research is a list of ongoing and completed research carried out by DRNI members.
You can search via project type, disease, or Principal Investigator/Researcher name.
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1. Overview of Research Plans.
This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of CS-ADL (Cognitive Stimulation in Activities of Daily Living). CS-ADL is an occupational therapist-led, group cognitive stimulation program for people living with mild-to-moderate dementia that aims to enhance their functional performance, alongside their social and cognitive functioning.
The aim is to evaluate the utility of a Connected Health model in supporting people with dementia and their carergivers in sustaining the patient at home. We propose that the CH model allows enhanced information- sharing between patient, carergiver and healthcare team, enabling streamlined clinical management, empowering the caregiver and enhancing the ability of the caregiver/patient dyad to cope.
Project Aim(s):
(i) To Identify tiRNA/sncRNA fingerprints in AD, ALS, FTD and PD human disease i-neurons.
(ii) To determine if tiRNAs affect the survival of i-neurons from controls and ALS, PD and FTD models.
Deciphering ALS Heterogeneity: A Precision Medicine Approach to Network-based Biomarker Development.
Project Aim(s):
(i) To continue to characterise the clinical subphenotypes of ALS and to further elucidate the observed clinical and genetic overlap between ALS and neuropsychiatric disorders by detailed study of endophenotypes in first and second degree relatives.
(ii) To identify heterogeneous disease subcohorts based on genomic signatures, including those that overlap between ALS and neuropsychiatric illness.
Project Aim(s):
(i) Using existing data, to characterize the impact of ALS stage, cognitive and behavioural effects in ALS on caregiver burden, and to ascertain the unmet psychological and psychosocial needs of caregivers.
(ii) To provide new data focussing on subjective and objective aspects of caregiver burden that can inform psychologically tailored interventions that enable self-management of carer burden.