Dementia, Mental Health and
Neurodegeneration

Dementia, Mental Health and other Neurodegenerative Diseases have profound societal and economic impacts and are priority NIHR research areas. 

Improving translational research capabilities in mental illness, neurodegeneration and dementia and using novel approaches to identify new therapeutic and technological opportunities to improve mental health, are key healthcare missions of the UK Life Sciences Vision. 

As global leaders in Lewy body disease our aims will be to develop a deeper understanding of the processes that drive these diseases and improved methods to allow for better and earlier diagnosis of dementia, in particular, dementia with Lewy bodies. We have extant data from ongoing longitudinal and deeply phenotyped Parkinson’s disease (PD) cohorts that we are using to address fundamental questions with respect to heterogeneity in PD, moving towards personalised care in the future. 

Psychiatric illness and symptoms cause significant morbidity/mortality, especially when comorbid with other multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs), both physical and psychiatric, including dementia.  Leveraging our excellence in ageing and translational mental health research, we will identify the mechanisms driving co-association of depression in older people with MLTCs. With an international reputation in the treatment and research of mood disorders, we will explore novel treatments and response/prediction biomarkers to antidepressant treatments. 

Our vision is to develop a deeper understanding of the processes that drive Lewy body dementia, related conditions and mood disorders, and develop novel methods to allow for better and earlier diagnosis, and treatments of these conditions in older adults.

Dementia

The Lewy body dementias (LBD) include Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson’s Disease with Dementia. They are a common cause of degenerative dementia in older people after Alzheimer’s disease and in the UK, LBD affects approximately 130,000 people. This is expected to double over the next 30 years.  

However, despite the significant number of people affected our understanding of how to best diagnose and treat LBD remains poor. The multisystem nature of LBD means that single solutions will not be effective. Solving problems in LBD requires combined approaches and innovations working together in synergy. 

Our work in dementia sits within an integrated set of research themes that make up the NIHR Newcastle BRC, all of which work closely together to understand their disease area, as well as increasing our understanding of ageing processes. 

Mental Health

Psychiatric illnesses are commonly comorbid with other long-term conditions (LTCs). This comorbidity leads to markedly worst outcomes for patients. The most common psychiatric illness in patients with MLTCs is depression. It and the other major form of mood disorder – bipolar disorder – are two of the two ten leading causes of disability in the developed world. Our work focuses on expanding our understanding of the nature and pathophysiology of mood disorders, including factors that lie behind the common co-occurrence of mood and other disorders. This work acts as a foundation for research into new and re-purposed treatment options.

While there are treatments, both medication and psychotherapies, that are known to be effective in treating mental illnesses such as depression, currently we do not know which treatment is likely to be best for which patient. There has also been a growth of “neurostimulatory” treatments, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) which may have a particular place in treatment, but again identifying appropriate patients is a challenge. How treatments are used in patients with MLTCs is also complicated by many patients being on multiple medication.  How this should be optimised is not currently clear. We are working on how better to identify which treatment may be best for which patient.

Neurodegeneration 

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the fastest growing neurological disorder in the world, with the number of people affected world-wide doubling between 1990 to 2015.  With population ageing and greater life expectancy, this will continue to increase. Currently, the number of people affected in the UK is estimated at around 153,000. 

Despite this, at the present time many of the tools to assess prognosis and progression in the disorder remain unsatisfactory. Our research links closely with the themes of digital health and ageing and MLTC to improve understanding of this heterogeneous disease within a multidisciplinary team. 

How We Carry Out Our Research

The theme brings together clinicians and researchers with expertise in this area, all with access to state-of-the-art equipment to carry out translational research studies that enhance our understanding of dementia, neurodegeneration and mental health in the Newcastle University’s Lewy Body Lab, Brain and Movement group and Northern Centre for Mood Disorders (NCMD).  We use a wide range of investigative and analytic techniques ranging from clinical to advanced neuroimaging to better understand the cause of dementia and mental illness, improve the early diagnosis and, ultimately, offer better treatment and care for people. 

Published Papers

Who We Work With

Our Dementia, Mental Health and Neurodegeneration theme sits across our Newcastle Hospitals, Newcastle University and Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear NHS Trust (CNTW) partnership. 

We have significant links with charities, such as the Lewy Body Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Parkinson’s UK, Cure Parkinson’s Trust, Michael J Fox Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Society, who dedicate their time to increasing our knowledge of neurodegenerative disease, as well as supporting people and their families who have been affected by the condition. 

Within the NIHR, we link closely with the NIHR Dementia Translational Research Collaboration (TRC), through deputy chair and theme lead Professor John-Paul Taylor. We also link with the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH TRC), with co-theme lead Professor Hamish McAllister-Williams, Emeritus Chair of the workstream in Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD). Linking across from our theme to Digital Health, Ageing innovation and Inclusion, Professor Alison Yarnall (BRC Leadership Track) provides further synergisms and opportunities especially with regards to understanding mechanisms and measurement of mobility, gait and falls in PD. 

We have established and active roles within the UK dementia and mood disorders research ecosystems (e.g. Dementia Platforms UK, Oxford Brain Health Clinic Initiative, Polygenic Risk Score Programme, Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals and NIHR MH TRC Mental Health Mission).

Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) 

Central to shaping our world leading research is integrating the voice of people with lived experience in all aspects of our research, from conception to designing clinical trials. Ensuring that our research is meaningful, impactful, and representative for all people living with Lewy body dementia, related conditions, and mood disorders through PPIE is of vital importance. Led by Dr Rachael Lawson and facilitated by Dr Alison Killen, we link with a range of stakeholders and community groups including CNTW (Chris Gibbs, Patient and Public Involvement Lead), local community groups (e.g. local dementia teams, Newcastle United Football Club Memory Café, Haref, Parkinson's NEC-RIG) and third sector groups (e.g. Alzheimer's Research UK local network, Out of the Blues).

Theme Leadership and Contacts