The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) has been awarded a five-year, $47 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging (NIA) to incorporate brain imaging into a new, large clinical trial led by the Alzheimer's Association.
The two-year U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk (U.S. POINTER) clinical trial will assess whether lifestyle changes such as exercise, diet, cognitive stimulation, and health coaching can protect memory in people at risk of developing dementia.
Specifically, UC Berkeley will use the NIA funds to support the U.S. POINTER Neuroimaging Ancillary Study, which will utilize amyloid PET, tau PET, and MRI to assess the biological effects of lifestyle interventions on brain health, including overall and regional brain shape, size, and blood flow. The brain imaging techniques will also assess the effects on indicators of heart health risk and small vessel disease, according to the university. Susan Landau, PhD, a research neuroscientist at UC Berkeley's Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, is the principal investigator of the ancillary study.
