Alzheimer's disease is distressing for patients and caretakers alike, and while early treatment doesn't necessarily affect the long-term outcomes, it improves patients' quality of life. Being able to identify patients at risk of Alzheimer's disease allows families to plan for the future, and physicians to arrange for short- and long-term patient care. Research published in Neurology has suggested that using the AD signature, an imaging biomarker linked with Alzheimer's disease dementia, could identify those people at high risk of cognitive decline. The AD signature uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure thinning of the cortex, a part of the brain used in memory. Looking at a group of people described as 'cognitively normal', researchers from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative linked low AD signature with a high risk of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (very early stage Alzheimer's disease, before symptoms emerge). According to the researchers, this biomarker could help to identify those patients at risk of imminent cognitive decline. Release | Abstract