title: Alzheimer's disease in the human eye. Clinical tests that identify ocular and visual information processing deficit as biomarkers.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia with progressive deterioration of memory and cognition. Complaints related to vision are common among AD patients. Several changes in the retina, lens, and in the vasculature have been noted in the AD eye that may be the cause of visual symptoms experienced by the AD patient. Anatomical changes have been detected within the eye before signs of cognitive impairment and memory loss are apparent. Unlike the brain, the eye is a unique organ that can be visualized noninvasively at the cellular level because of its transparent nature, which allows for inexpensive testing of biomarkers in a clinical setting. In this review, we have searched for candidate biomarkers that could enable diagnosis of AD, covering ocular neurodegeneration associated with functional tests. We explore the evidence that suggests that inexpensive, noninvasive clinical tests could be used to detect AD ocular biomarkers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand National Eye Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Lily Y L
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.affiliation: Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ardiles
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand National Eye Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand National Eye Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Angus C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Grey
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand National Eye Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: New Zealand National Eye Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Danesh-Meyer
authors.affiliation: Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.
authors.forename: Adrian G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry and Vision Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand National Eye Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: m.acosta@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Monica L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Acosta
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Amyloid; Ganglion cells; Glaucoma; Retina; Retinal degeneration