Pupils May Help Identify Alzheimer’s Decades Before Symptoms Appear

There’s an old saying that the eyes are the window to the soul. While that very well may be the case, a new study finds that they may also be a window to the mind and an accurate predictor of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease long before actual symptoms begin to appear.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, say that measuring how quickly and drastically a person’s pupil dilates while solving a problem or thinking critically may serve as an accurate, low-cost, and low-invasive way to screen for Alzheimer’s decades before any symptoms appear.

Alzheimer’s disease, a devastating condition that results in cognitive deterioration and memory loss, only reveals itself late in life. However, the condition actually begins taking root and damaging the brain many years before symptoms appear. With this in mind, early detection is key to slowing the disease’s progression. If the research team’s findings about pupil behavior are accurate and reliable, it would represent a major breakthrough in the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s among genetically at risk patients all over the world.

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