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Dementia

Elderly man resting with his hand on his chin
There are over 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK.

Our research aims to identify genetic factors that influence the progression of dementia.

Dementia is an umbrella term which describes a set of symptoms. Individuals with dementia may experience some or all of these symptoms during the progression of their illness.

Common symptoms include a decline in:

  • memory loss
  • executive function
  • mental sharpness
  • language skills
  • comprehension
  • judgement
  • mood
  • motor skills
  • every day activities

There are many different types of dementia, with Alzheimer's disease being the most common type. Lewy Body Dementia, Frontal Temporal Dementia and Vascular Dementia are less common however still account for a large proportion of all dementia cases.

Our research

Our research group is led by Professor Julie Williams and our expertise encompasses field work, laboratory genetics and functional work, as well as bioinformatics and biostatistics.

Elderly man

Alzheimer's disease

We work collaboratively to understand how certain genes affect the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Photograph of a woman

Dementia with Lewy bodies

Find out how we're learning how certain genes affect your chance of developing Dementia.