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Pupillary Response as a Possible Early Biological Marker for Alzheimer’s Disease

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Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Neurology ((CCNEU))

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Abstract

Despite the growing understanding of the basic pathological cascade of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) over the past decade, there is yet no definitive marker or diagnostic test for this condition. Recent evidence (1,2) points to the fact that the disease, and by disease we mean the pathology of AD, may be present many years before there are any clinical manifestations of the disease. AD exists on two planes: the clinical and the pathological. Unfortunately this distinction is often blurred or lost. The clinical manifestation of the disease is temporally subordinate to the presence of pathology. This suggests that the earliest marker for the disease will not be found in identifying clinical symptoms, by which time the pathological process has already done significant damage, but in identifying a biological marker for the disease that is detectable well before frank or even subtle clinical symptoms are apparent.

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  1. Leonard F. M. Scinto
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  1. Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Leonard F. M. Scinto PhD  & Kirk R. Daffner MD  & 

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Scinto, L.F.M. (2000). Pupillary Response as a Possible Early Biological Marker for Alzheimer’s Disease. In: Scinto, L.F.M., Daffner, K.R. (eds) Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-005-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-005-6_10

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

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