https://prism-project.eu/en/prism-study/
PRISM is a project that aims to help us find new treatments more quickly for the three most common brain disorders in Europe: Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and major depression (see details below). These three disorders together cost society some 312 billion euros every year.
The project is innovative: for the first time, it will look at a symptom these three diseases have in common – social withdrawalinfoSocial withdrawalIn several brain disorders as the disease gets worse suffers no longer seek to interact with family, friends and acquaintances as much as they had, or is normal for people of similar age and background. This goes beyond loneliness and/or shyness both in terms of degree and duration. In many cases the most notable feature is the change in character and behaviour that is most notable and worrying to carers, friends and family… Currently a doctor choses a treatment based on the patient’s symptoms. What we want to find out is if there are similar, or different, biological reasons causing this shared symptom. If there different biological causes then new treatments can be developed more quickly which target the biological mechanisms that go wrong and cause social withdrawalinfoSocial withdrawalIn several brain disorders as the disease gets worse suffers no longer seek to interact with family, friends and acquaintances as much as they had, or is normal for people of similar age and background. This goes beyond loneliness and/or shyness both in terms of degree and duration. In many cases the most notable feature is the change in character and behaviour that is most notable and worrying to carers, friends and family…
In the first phase of the project we will recruit two groups of subjects, one of Alzheimer’s and the other schizophrenic patients. These patients will be asked to undergo assessment at the hospital and at home. The hospital tests will include a brain scan (fMRI), measurement of the brain’s electrical activity (EEG), a blood sample along with tests of memory and assessments of other behaviours. In addition, the patients will be asked to use a Smart phone App for a period of time that will enable the project to “measure” the level “Social withdrawal”. The data from all of these approaches will then be looked at together for patterns that allow the team to identify different clusters subjects have similar symptoms but different biological problems. The project plans a second phase that will then extend the study to include patients suffering from Major depression.
https://prism-project.eu/en/patients-and-relatives/brain-disorders/