The ‘India ENIGMA Initiative for Global Aging and Mental Health’ research project was launched at NIMHANS on Thursday. The five-year project is aimed at bridging the knowledge gap around the various factors influencing the acceleration in brain aging.
To be conducted at NIMHANS, the study will involve 400 participants (including healthy older adults and persons with memory impairment) who can volunteer to participate. This study includes comprehensive assessment of risk and protective factors through clinical interview, memory and cognitive tests, blood investigations and brain imaging (MRI scan). Researchers from NIMHANS and University of Southern California (USC), who have joined hands for this project, will follow up with the participants over two years to understand the contribution of these factors to the risk of developing dementia.
Speaking at the launch, NIMHANS director Pratima Murthy said the study will enhance the capacity of NIMHANS researchers for advanced research in this field with focus on brain imaging and other biomarkers. “In collaboration with USC, this study will help in augmenting the cutting edge research output of global standards from NIMHANS,” she said.
“NIMHANS is also actively involved in studying Neurophysiological and Neurochemical biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. The facility of Brain Bank, PET MRI, MEG etc in NIMHANS can help in enhancing the research in this field in future,” she said.
John P. John, professor in the Department of Psychiatry NIMHANS, Faculty in charge – Multimodal Brain Image Analysis Laboratory (MBIAL) and the Principal Investigator of the India ENIGMA initiative, said major medical breakthroughs have occurred in the past because of the generosity of participating volunteers. “We hope that this study can generate critical insights for planning preventive and treatment strategies for dementia in the Indian population,” he said.
Paul M. Thompson, who heads the ENIGMA consortium and is also the director of Imaging Genetics Centre (IGC) at USC, spoke on the “Role of Brain Imaging in Aging and Dementia”. He also elaborated on the work done by the ENIGMA Consortium which is one of the world’s largest databases of brain images in various neuropsychiatric disorders.
Published - February 09, 2023 10:11 pm IST
