Page 96 - Demo

94their feelings. This may result in behavioural symptoms and even physical aggression. As extended reality (XR) technologies %u2013 including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) %u2013 become more popular, research shows that such tools are a useful form of non-pharmacological therapy. XR tools can improve the quality of life and well-being of people living with dementia, especially their emotional health and social connectedness. Tapping into the promising potential of XR, Prof. Justina Yat-wa LIU and Dr Daphne Sze-ki CHEUNG, School of Nursing, spearheaded research on XR-based systems specifically designed for older people in Hong Kong. Their aim was to slow cognitive decline and alleviate the emotional and behavioural challenges faced by individuals living with dementia.AI models for dementia screeningEarly signs of dementia can be subtle, and early cases may slip under the radar. Recent research has demonstrated that neuroimaging techniques can identify biomarkers that indicate early signs of dementia. High-resolution brain images carry a wealth of details about brain structure and function, but such details are often too subtle for the human eye to spot. To cope with this, Prof. Qin and Prof. Choi developed 3D convolutional neural networks to automatically detect cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in brain images. CMBs are important biomarkers of cognitive decline. %u201cStudies show that subjects with Alzheimer%u2019s disease often have more CMBs in their brains than healthy MIND MATTERS