A HIGH-TECH scanner which could enable scientists to develop better treatments for dementia and other brain conditions is to be installed at Edinburgh University.
The equipment, said to be the first of its kind in Scotland, will give scientists the clearest picture yet of what goes wrong in the brain when dementia occurs, the university said.
Researchers will be able to use the device to look in detail at what is going on inside patients' brains.
It will also help doctors to identify patients who are most likely to benefit from new therapies, and to monitor the effects of their treatment. The system combines Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans with Positron Emission Tomography imaging to produce high-resolution pictures of the tissue of the brain.
It will allow researchers to track the movement of molecules within the brain's cells.
The Medical Research Council has paid £6.8 million to support the programme.
Professor Ian Deary, director of Edinburgh University's Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, who led the bid, said: "Advanced brain imaging and stem cell research are likely routes to better understanding of the causes and progress of dementias."
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