The Italian Province of the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, headed by the centre Casa di Cura Villa San Benedetto Menni and under the scientific direction of Professor Giampaolo Perna, has obtained a loan of €313,870 for a four-year project drawn up in association with the hospital Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese – Policlinico Santa Maria alle Scotte (led by Prof. Fagiolini), Associazione La Nostra Famiglia – Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a carattere scientifico (IRCCS) Eugenio Medea (led by Dr. Giorda and Dr. Brambilla), the Italian Neuroscience Institute (Istituto di Neuroscienze), UOS of Cagliari and the Italian National Council of Research (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, under the leadership of Prof. Biggio) and the involvement of another House of the Congregation, Villa San Giuseppe at Ascoli Piceno (led by Dr. Valchera).
The project, entitled Are Anxiety Disorders associated with accelerated cognitive decline and molecular mechanisms of dementia? A multi-centric Italian study in middle-aged and older patients and controls was presented as part of the call for “Biomedical research on conditions linked to ageing” and was assigned the loan together with another fifteen projects submitted by important research institutes.
The mean exponent of this important group is the Italian Province, under the supervision of Prof Perna (Head of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience of Villa San Benedetto Menni, acting in the capacity of Principal Investigator), and with the direct involvement of Dr. Daniela Caldirola, Head of Scientific Research of the nursing home in Lombardy.
The research project is based on the assumption that the factors associated with the development of dementia have not yet been clarified. Their identification is essential for singling out people at risk to be targeted with preventive efforts. Anxiety Disorders (AD) could be among these factors and are highly prevalent in middle-aged/elderly people. Preliminary data have shown that elderly people with AD typically have deficient cognitive functions and brain connectivity abnormalities in the various areas involved in cognitive function, suggesting that more in-depth research would be useful. Hence the general scope of the project is to study the association between AD, cognitive decline and certain molecular mechanisms involved in dementia. This will be performed through the joint efforts of research centres renowned for their skills in clinical research on AD, neuropsychology, molecular analysis techniques and brain imaging.
The project therefore has an ambitious goal that will be achieved over four years of activity and will be an important opportunity for scientific growth for the entire congregation.
