Investigating Alcohol-Related Dementia

Alcohol-related dementia (ARD) is one of the leading causes of secondary (preventable) dementia, and younger onset dementia (onset of symptoms prior to 65 years) in Australia.

Aims

Using a validated rodent model we aim to:

Characterise the cognitive and neuropathological symptoms of ARD.
Evaluate the restorative effects of abstinence combined with voluntary exercise on these symptoms.

Together with the high rates of alcohol consumption in Australia, this means that ARD is becoming an increasingly urgent public health issue. The only treatment currently available for ARD is alcohol rehabilitation and abstinence. However, emerging evidence from animal models indicates that exercise may act as a protective factor against the neurotoxic effects of alcohol, and is even able to reverse some of the brain injury that occurs following alcohol exposure.