SCOTTISH researchers will lead a £1.13 million project to help establish if an eye test can be used to reveal the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Substantial evidence already suggests that changes to the tree-shaped patterns of veins and arteries in the eye can be linked to a number of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. Scientists at Dundee University will now conduct a project using specially-developed computer software which analyses high-definition images of the eye to establish whether such changes can act as an early indicator of Alzheimer's.

Project coordinator Professor Emanuele Trucco, said: "There is the promise of early warning in a non-invasive way and there is also the fact that we even might be able to use the test to differentiate between different types of dementia."