The eyes are more than a window to the soul — they're also a reflection of a person's cognitive health.
"The eye is the window into the brain," said ophthalmologist Dr. Christine Greer, director of medical education at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Boca Raton, Florida."You can see directly into the nervous system by looking into the back of the eye, toward the optic nerve and retina."
If doctors are able to identify the disease in its earliest stages, people could then make healthy lifestyle choices and control their"modifiable risk factors, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes," Isaacson said.The eye knowsJust how early can we see signs of cognitive decline? To find out, a recent study examined donated tissue from the retina and brains of 86 people with different degrees of mental decline.
Investigators in the study collected retinal and brain tissue samples over 14 years from 86 human donors with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment — the largest group of retinal samples ever studied, according to the authors. Microglial cells declined by 80% in those with cognitive issues, the study found. These cells are responsible for repairing and maintaining other cells, including clearing beta-amyloid from the brain and retina.
The study researchers found higher numbers of immune cells tightly surrounding amyloid beta plaques as well as other cells responsible for inflammation and cell and tissue death.
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