Using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the radiotrace fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) may improve earlier detection of neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer's disease.

A study by the New York University School of Medicine measured the cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (CMRglc) in 548 participants.

FDG was able to pinpoint the specific area in the brain where glucose utilisation had fallen below normal levels as compared to an age-appropriate control group in the PET scans.

Previous studies have only been able to focus on the surface of the brain to differentiate various types of dementia.

However FDG PET allowed researchers to develop standardised disease-specific patterns from which they could correctly classify dementia more than 94 per cent of the time.

Severe CMRglc reductions in the hippocampus were identified in Alzheimer's disease patients, frontotemporal dementia patients showed only mild abnormalities in the area and dementia with Lewy bodies patients had no hippocampal hypometabolism.

"We believe that the ability to measure this embedded area in the brain will be important in identifying Alzheimer's disease at an early stage," Lisa Mosconi, the study's lead author said.

"Because the incidence of these disorders is expected to increase dramatically as the baby-boomer generation ages, accurate diagnosis is extremely important - particularly at the early and mild stages of dementia when life-style changes and therapeutic interventions would be most effective," Mosconi added.

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