MRI measurements of the brain could be a helpful diagnostic tool for determining who is at risk for developing Alzheimer’s dementia.

Researchers have found that there is a considerable amount of brain shrinkage which can be detected up to a decade before symptoms of Alzheimer’s appear.

“The magnetic resonance measurements could be very important indicators to help identify who may be at risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia,” Leyla deToledo-Morrell of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

“If a drug therapy or treatment is developed in the future, those who are still without symptoms but at great risk would benefit the most from treatment,”