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Updated: Jul 5, 2025

Using Retinal Imaging to Study Dementia
Published on: November 6, 2017
Circadian rhythm disruption and retinal dysfunction: a bidirectional link in Alzheimer's disease?
Laura Carrero1,2, Desireé Antequera3, Cristina Municio1
1Group of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre Research Institute (imas12), Madrid, Spain; Network Center for Biomedical Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.
None:
Dysfunction in circadian rhythms is a common occurrence in patients with Alzheimer's disease. A predominant function of the retina is circadian synchronization, carrying information to the brain through the retinohypothalamic tract, which projects to the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Notably, Alzheimer's disease hallmarks, including amyloid-β, are present in the retinas of Alzheimer's disease patients, followed/associated by structural and functional disturbances. However, the mechanistic link between circadian dysfunction and the pathological changes affecting the retina in Alzheimer's disease is not fully understood, although some studies point to the possibility that retinal dysfunction could be considered an early pathological process that directly modulates the circadian rhythm.
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