New research from the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) has found that diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) may show up as pathological changes in the retina, providing doctors with a noninvasive screening tool for earlier brain disease detection.
Researchers reportedly studied the functional abnormalities of the retina using a mouse model of human central nervous system diseases. Using electroretinography (ERG) and visual evoked potentials (VEP) as their research techniques, the researchers found day and color vision associated retinal dysfunction in a mouse model of Huntington´s disease although the mouse was presymptomatic, and abnormality in night vision associated retinal function in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. And they also found retinal degenerative changes in a mouse model of late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.
According to researchers, the results support the idea of eye examinations as potential screening tools for CNS diseases.
The study was recently published in the journals PLoS One, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, and Human Molecular Genetics. And the doctoral dissertation is available for download here.
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Source: University of Eastern Finland