Keeping an eye out for neurodegenerative disease

Research by Henri Leinonen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland) has highlighted the potential use of retinal testing as a screening tool for neurodegenerative disease in the future. Since the retina of the eye is an integral part of the CNS that can be studied non-invasively, Leinonen focused his PhD project on the investigation of retinal functional abnormalities in neurodegenerative disease. To investigate this, he utilized electrophysiological visual tests such as electroretinography and visual evoked potentials, both of which can be applied to both laboratory animals and humans. Electroretinography involves the tracking of retinal function with corneal or skin electrodes while...