BATON ROUGE — Brain disease is being called a massive hidden epidemic and researchers are working to better understand it before lasting damage sets in.

The Cleveland Clinic Brain Study was launched in 2022 with healthy volunteers who will be examined over the next 20 years. Researchers are analyzing blood samples, MRIs and retina scans.

Co-principal investigator Dr. Imad Najm said the goal is to get ahead of the problem. "So, we can start to understand why and identify targets for diagnosis and treatment of these diseases," Najm said.

In the U.S., more than 600 neurological diseases and disorders are currently being researched. That list includes Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke and epilepsy.

"We are able to treat the symptoms, the manifestations of the disease, but we are not able to stop the disease," Najm said.

The study comes as researchers acknowledge there is still a great deal to learn about the brain and the disorders that affect it.