UM experts to talk new Alzheimer’s meds, measuring brain health in Delray
When the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine opened the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health in Boca Raton in 2021, the goal was to be a local hub for research into the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of neurodegenerative brain diseases.
The center’s director, neurologist and UM professor Dr. James Galvin, believes that overall physical health and brain health are closely connected.
“We spend very little time talking about health, vitality, and wellness,” he says. “We spend a lot more time talking about disease and disability. It’s time we did more to help people protect their brains.”
He also believes that knowledge is power when it comes to brain health — which is why he hopes the public will attend the center’s free brain health seminar from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the South County Civic Center (16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach).
Galvin will be one of four presenters at the seminar, which will include discussions on such disparate aspects of brain health as blood biomarkers, behavior, greenspace, and lifestyle choices, among others.
A preview of Thursday’s event:
‘The Future is NOW: Advances in the Treatment and Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease’ by Dr. James Galvin
Alzheimer’s disease affects more than six million Americans and more than 55 million people worldwide.
Despite increased scientific knowledge about the disease, until recently treatments were limited to symptomatic medications that were approved more than two decades ago.
In recent years, however, medications that offer potential for disease modification have successfully
completed clinical trials. Two new medications — Leqembi and Aducanumab — received FDA approval in 2023 and 2021, respectively and Galvin notes that there’s another medication that is pending FDA approval.
“These new approved medications, and similar medications under study, focus on removing abnormal protein deposits from the brains of individuals living with Alzheimer’s,” explains Galvin. “In doing so they offer the potential for both symptomatic improvement and the slowing of disease progression.”
Galvin stresses that these pharmaceutical advances have also been complemented by “a parallel effort using tailored lifestyle and behavioral modifications to alter disease risk and increase resilience. These combined efforts offer enhanced potential for halting disease progression for those living with Alzheimer’s and prevention against developing the disease in those who are at highest risk.”
‘You’re Only as Old as Your Brain Feels: Epigenetic Biomarkers and Brain Aging’ by neuropsychologist Deirdre O’Shea
While we’re all familiar with the adage, “you’re only as old as you feel,” recent research suggests there’s more truth to this than we might have imagined.
“My presentation will delve into the fascinating world of epigenetics, a branch of science that studies how our behaviors and environment can switch genes on and off, influencing how our brain ages,” says O’Shea.
She’ll explore the vital role “our ‘epigenetic clock.’ This innovative tool doesn’t just measure our age in years but delves deeper into our biological age by examining specific markers in our DNA. These markers can reveal the impact of our lifestyle choices, from the foods we eat to our exercise habits and even how we handle stress — and how all of these factors impact the aging of brain.”
O’Shea will also discuss how her research is attempting to refine these tools for a more accurate measurement of brain health and cognitive age.
“The hope is that this work will lead to a blood test that can quickly flag if our brain is showing signs of aging too soon, especially from lifestyle choices like not eating well or being sedentary,” she explains. “This will help us show people at an earlier stage of their lives how to make improvements in the brain-health factors they can control.”
‘Neighborhood Environments Including Greenspaces and Brain Health’ by research assistant professor and investigator Lilah Besser
The neighborhoods where people live influence health-related behaviors such as diet and exercise, as well as environmental exposures such as air pollution. These neighborhood-related behaviors and environmental exposures can ultimately impact brain health and the risk for developing dementia.
“I’ll be discussing how residential neighborhoods influence brain health and exploring how recent scientific studies have linked neighborhood environments to cognitive health and brain health in the elderly,” Besser said.
Besser will also present her current studies on how brain health is affected by exposure to neighborhood greenspaces, including parks, tree canopies and forests, and other areas with natural vegetation.
“Regular exposure to nature is among the best things we can do for our brain health,” she said.
‘Measuring Cognition Using Behavior’ by research assistant professor Michael J. Kleiman
Changes in cognition and cognitive functioning are difficult to measure.
The most commonly used cognitive assessments can be effective at measuring moderate and severe impairment due to dementia but are inconsistent when it comes to identifying mild impairment.
And they cannot be used at all to identify the very subtle changes in cognition due to preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
“Instead of relying on these types of assessments, increased research is being done into using incidental behavior, including gaze behavior and speech behavior, to measure cognitive functioning directly while doing simple tasks like answering questions and describing pictures,” Kleiman explains.
In contrast to current cognitive assessments, notes Kleiman, with these new types of assessments there are no “correct” answers — and therefore, he says “it is impossible to focus on doing the task ‘better,’ a mechanism that may hide subtle cognitive impairment from being detected normally.”
Kleiman will examine the various types of behavior that are measured in his research, including subtle changes in speech production, attention, and memory, and how this type of new approach to measuring cognition can lead to more effective treatments and therapies in the future.