Early Prediction of CNS Problems by Combined Ocular Markers (and vice versa)

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Background

Visual impairment (VI) has been proposed as one of the early symptoms of dementia. Extensive investigations have reported similar neuronal and microvascular alterations in the eye and brain in patients with cognitive impairment (CIM) or dementia. Many other studies have examined the associations between different ocular diseases and causes of CIM.
VI and CIM share many risk factors such as vascular and medical co-morbidities, age, physical inactivity, etc.; and also common consequences such as falls, functional decline, deterioration of quality-of-life, and mortality. Many types of VI and CIM, meanwhile share common factors and pathophysiologic processes. For instance, age-related macular degeneration has been associated with Alzheimer and Parkinson disease.
Results of a longitudinal and a well-conducted meta-analysis specifically showed existence of a bidirectional relationship between VI and CIM. Those two studies were, however, focused only on visual acuity (using Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study charts), and cognitive status (using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and other components of vision (such as contrast sensitivity, stereoacuity, color vision, and visual hallucination) were not included.

Given that the brain and eye are neural tissues derived from the same embryonic germ layer, the coincidence of developmental anomalies of these organs is not surprising. It was recently shown that some specific aquaporins (AQP) have regional functions in development of refractive index in the zebrafish eye lens. In humans, specific refractive errors are associated with some specific CIMs. Given that, in principle, there are no qualitative differences between the AQPs of the visual system and the central nervous system, early acquisition of patterns of these and similar easily accessible/measurable ocular markers/biomarkers and indices would provide a next generation biotechnology for early diagnosis of brain diseases (and vice versa), with high sensitivity/precision/accuracy and cost-effectively.

If bidirectional relationships are present among different types of VI and different types of CIM, and if such associations could be determined at early stages using easily measurable biomarkers, it will provide unique opportunities for developing early detection and management of risk factors for both VI and CIM in all age groups.

This Research Topic calls for original papers, study protocols, thought experiments and synthetic reviews as a basis for future studies exploring the potential of ophthalmology and neuroscience for prediction or anticipation of neurologic and ophthalmic situations. It is expected that submitted manuscripts will help novel technical and methodological developments.
This Research Topic would like to welcome articles focusing on but not limited to the following topics:
- Questionnaire studies: A broad range including cross-sectional to longitudinal questionnaire studies linking –specifically– combined patterns of neurotransmitters, markers, biomarkers, indices and measures of ocular diseases with CIMs.
- Brain imaging techniques: Studies –specifically– linking/exploring ocular diseases from the perspective of different brain imaging techniques.
- Comparative and synthetic studies: studies –specifically– comparing/synthesizing patterns of markers, biomarkers, indices and measures of ocular diseases in relation to patterns of neurotransmitters and measures of CNS problem in different age/sex groups and/or (ab) normal mental (such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, etc.). Mechanistic and hypothetical/theoretical papers.

Keywords: CNS, Myopia, Hyperopia, Visual system, Alzheimer, Schizophrenia, Dementia, Glaucoma, Cognition, Aging

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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