Transcript
[Beginning of recorded material]
[Title card animation: Dementia Australia Research Foundation - Prevent]
[Dr Loren Mowszowski, The University of Sydney]
Loren: My name is Dr Loren Mowszowski. I'm a clinical neuropsychologist and a dementia researcher at the Healthy Brain Ageing Program, which is part of the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney. Well, we know dementia is a health condition that affects thousands, in fact, hundreds of thousands of Australians. At the moment, there is no cure for dementia, and even the drugs that exist to try and alleviate the symptoms are often accompanied by side effects. What we want to look at are non-pharmacological – so non-drug treatments that might help us to alleviate some of the cognitive symptoms. At the same time, research has also been focusing on people at earlier stages of what we call the dementia continuum. So these are people who don't necessarily have dementia yet, but may experience more subtle or more mild cognitive problems, and maybe at a greater risk of going on to decline further and develop dementia down the track.
We also now know that there are a number of factors that we call risk factors, and these are things that might increase a person's potential for developing dementia down the track. As a neuropsychologist, one of the things that really interests me is trying to find ways to help people to deal with the cognitive impairments that they experience on a day-to-day basis. And so, my research was really aiming to try to address this gap of identifying people at a greater risk of developing dementia, and developing some way of helping to slow that process down, and improve their cognition and their day-to-day functioning.
What we didn't know at the time was what these kinds of cognitive interventions or cognitive training programs needed to look like. What should they target? How long should they run for? Which kinds of people would respond best to them? And I was really fortunate to receive funding from the Dementia Australia Research Foundation as a post-doctoral researcher, which allowed me to work in this space and investigate through a number of different projects, and it was such a vote of confidence in my abilities and my potential as a researcher. It really showed me that I have a research that's worthwhile. It has real world meaning, and the work that I can do can hopefully contribute and make a difference to the lives of older people who have these cognitive difficulties.
We were fortunate, in 2017, to receive the Faustyna Wiener Memorial Grant, which allowed us to embark on this project of an online cognitive intervention. And for this project, I'm collaborating directly with another neuropsychologist, Dr Haley LaMonica.
[Dr Haley LaMonica]
Haley: I'm Haley LaMonica. I'm a clinical neuropsychologist and senior research fellow here at the Brain and Mind Centre. I first became interested in dementia when I was in graduate school, so studying to become a clinical neuropsychologist. I really saw it as an opportunity to help older adults understand why they might be experiencing cognitive decline. The funding from Dementia Australia Research Foundation went to hire a software developer who helped us translate that paper-based material into an online format, so the online program is referred to as CogNet. It's divided up into 12 different modules that the individuals can complete independently. The modules focus on, both, modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline, so it might be sleep or mood or exercise, as well as different cognitive strategies they might be able to put in place in their day-to-day life to improve things such as memory.
We certainly hope that our research shows that the CogNet intervention, or the online format is as effective as our workshop-based format in terms of cognitive training outcomes, because that would allow us to deliver this type of information across Australia to older adults. The funding from the Dementia Australia Research Foundation was really a milestone for me, as it was the first time I received independent funding as a researcher in the dementia space, so it's allowed me to create this online program but has really opened the doors into the world of technology research on behalf of the health of older adults.
Elizabeth: One of the benefits of cognitive training as a therapy option is that it's safe, there are no negative side effects. It's also something that's really engaging, and many people really enjoy it. It's stimulating, it's empowering when we teach people about the way that their brains work, we don't know if we'll be able to cure dementia, but if we can delay the onset, and if we can keep people living well as long as possible, we feel that's a great outcome.
[Title card]
This research is supported by:
Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Faustyna Wiener Memorial Grant
Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney
Dr Mowszowski would like to acknowledge:
The research team (Professor Sharon Naismith and Dr Keri Diamond), the research participants and their families, and the staff and students from the Healthy Brain Ageing Program.
[End title card]
[Title card]
Dementia Australia Research Foundation:
A cure is just the beginning
If you would like to see dementia research make real impact, donate today:
1300 636 679
www.dementia.org.au/donate-research
[End title card]
[END of recorded material]
