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wellbeing, but also mental and cognitive health and       ▄▀ 4.2 Background: Pilot project
therefore on the incidence of dementia in the el-
derly population. Thus, the analysis of risk factors re-  A pilot study was conducted between June 2010
lated to the symptoms of dementia must be                 and February 2011, prior to the final project, whose
accompanied by a comprehensive phenotypic                 first preliminary results are presented in this report.
characterization in order to provide a better un-         The aims of this study were:
derstanding of the underlying neurobiological me-
chanisms.                                                    • To verify the feasibility of the working
                                                                 procedure, the cooperation of the target
The concept of population studies - that is, the re-             population and the adequacy of screening
cruitment of participants from community environ-                protocols to the study objectives.
ments to ensure good representations of the entire
population - must be incorporated in future neuro-           • To obtain early and sufficient information on
biological and neuropathological investigations in               the characteristics of the recruited volunteers
dementia. The results of small clinical-based sam-               and those that could not be recruited, as well
ples, which include only patients from memory cli-               as the limitations of the actual sampling
nics or other medical services, have inherently                  compared to the intended one.
limited generalization and the considerable poten-
tial for bias due to highly selective recruitment. In        • To get experience in the implementation of
particular, people who are socially disadvantaged                the different elements of the protocol and to
are less likely to participate in that research. The in-         estimate the burden of the evaluator and the
tegration of neuroscience with population studies                evaluated.
and neuroscientific epidemiological approaches is
of vital importance and provides the opportunity to          • To promote the Project to achieve the
integrate the understanding of brain health, neuro-              participation of volunteers and attracting
biology and neuropathology within the general po-                enough funds to carry out the Vallecas
pulation to support better prevention, care and cure             Project.
of dementia.
                                                          175 volunteers were involved in this phase of the pro-
The main objective of the population-based study          ject, of which:
"Vallecas Project" for Early Detection of Alzheimer's
Disease, is to elucidate, through tracking of progres-       • 95 people were able to participate in the
sion, the best combination of clinical parameters                project.
and complementary tests (imaging and laboratory)
that allow deciphering at medium- and long-term              • 80 people were unable to participate
features that distinguish those who will develop me-             because they met at least one exclusion
mory impairment (MCI and dementia) from those                    criterion.
who will not. Thus, it intends to identify various mar-
kers to determine eventually the potential risk that      ▄▀ 4.3. The Vallecas Project
each individual could have to develop the disease
in the future.                                            Following the completion and analysis of the pilot
                                                          study the protocol was amended based on the ex-
                                                          perience gained and a volunteer recruitment stra-
                                                          tegy was established (social awareness campaign
                                                          in the media, visits to centers for seniors, contact

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