Individuals with subjective cognitive decline feel that their memory or thinking abilities have worsened, although they still perform normally on cognitive tests. While some will later develop dementia, many do not, making it difficult to determine who may benefit from further assessment or closer follow-up. A new grant has now been awarded to KI researcher Ingrid Ekström to help support her research into whether smell tests can help improve early dementia risk assessment.
The research project Olfaction for Dementia Risk Stratification in Subjective Cognitive Decline focuses on people with subjective cognitive decline. Previous research, including studies by the research team, has shown a link between impaired sense of smell and dementia risk. The ability to recognise and identify odours is often affected early in Alzheimer's disease, sometimes long before clear memory problems appear. This may be because the sense of smell depends on brain regions affected early in the disease process.
The new project will investigate whether smell tests can help identify which individuals are more or less likely to develop dementia. The team will also examine whether smell tests provide useful information in addition to established biological markers measured in blood and cerebrospinal fluid. The aim is to support earlier and more individualised decisions about assessment and follow-up.
"The grant allows us to focus on subjective cognitive decline, where improved risk assessment is particularly relevant for both clinicians and patients. It takes our research from establishing the association between olfaction and dementia towards determining how olfactory testing could be used in a more targeted and clinically meaningful way", says Project Leader Ingrid Ekström , assistant professor at the Aging Research Center (ARC) , Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society .
"An important strength of the project is that olfactory testing will not be evaluated in isolation but in combination with established biomarkers. The project also builds on contributions from many study participants and collaborators, and I am very grateful for their involvement," she continues.
During the autumn, the team will begin planning and preparing the project. The research will use data from two large Swedish population-based studies available through the Swedish National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR), together with data from a memory clinic at Karolinska University Hospital. This will make it possible to study the research questions in both population-based and clinical settings.
"Personally, I am very honoured to receive this grant. I see it as important recognition of the research we have developed, as well as an opportunity to advance this line of work as an independent researcher," says Ingrid Ekström.
The Alzheimer's Association Research Grant for All (AARGA) is an international grant that supports early-career independent researchers in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The current grant amounts to approximately USD 189,000 (around SEK 1.8 million) and will fund the research over three years starting this autumn.
