What is BrainScan?
It’s a simple blood test that combines the Plasma Phosphorylated Tau 217 (p-Tau 217), Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and Neurofilament Light Chain (NfL) blood tests to detect cognitive decline years before symptoms appear, offering a gentle alternative to spinal taps and costly PET scans.
Watch as Dr. Bredesen and Julie G. talk about the importance of p-Tau 217 and detecting cognitive decline early.
Routine cognitive testing is advised for individuals 30 and older, particularly if they have any of the following risk factors.
- Family history of dementia
- ApoE4
- Memory loss
- Concussion or head trauma
- Social isolation
- Physical inactivity
- Depression
- Sleep apnea
- Mold exposure
- Smoking
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Untreated vision loss
- Hearing loss
- Unhealthy diet
- Poor sleep
What’s Included?
Everything you need to gain peace of mind.
These biomarkers give you a complete picture of your brain health. You will know if you have abnormal levels of amyloid, neuronal damage, and/or ongoing inflammation.
p-Tau 217
A specific biomarker for Alzheimer-related processes, which is both an early warning for avoiding dementia and for tracking disease progression and improvement.
NfL
A biomarker that tells us whether there is ongoing damage to our brain cells from vascular disease, head trauma, or any neurodegenerative process.
GFAP
A biomarker of ongoing inflammation and repair in the brain.
Note: These tests alone do not provide a definitive diagnosis and should be interpreted in conjunction with clinical signs and symptoms.
View a sample report.
Get BrainScan in 3 simple steps
1. Order the Labs
You will receive a testing kit with everything you need to take to the lab for your blood draw in 4-6 business days.
2. Schedule the Blood Draw
We have partnered with thousands of licensed blood draw labs to make scheduling easy or select mobile phlebotomy to get your labs from the privacy and comfort of your home.
3. Download the Report and Take Action
The BrainScan report provides the information you need to take action to prevent or reverse congnitive decline.
View a sample report.
The best p-Tau 217 test available
Not all p-Tau tests are created equal, Apollo Health’s test is highly sensitive and the first p-Tau 217 test widely available for consumers.
Results are confidential
Consumers can choose who to share their results with and do not need to fear any negative consequences.
Health coaches can walk you through next steps
If your results are out of range, a nationally certified health coach will contact you to review them and offer guidance.
Common Questions
BrainScan is currently available to participants residing in all states, except Alaska, Hawaii, and New York, and may be ordered directly through Apollo Health.
BrainScan is currently only available in 47 US states (No testing is available in AK, HI, and NY). We are working with our lab partners to make BrainScan available internationally, but currently do not have an ETA for specific locations.
Please stay tuned for updates on our website and in our email newsletters.
We’ve partnered with My Own Medical Source (MOMS) to create a convenient national network of blood draw locations. Visit My One Medical Source to locate a blood draw location near you. If there are none available in your area or if you need help, please contact us at apollo@neurocode.com or (425) 312-3791.
While the name of the test (pTau 217) might suggest that all laboratories that offer this test are the same, Neurocode has performed the most extensive clinical validation and uses the ALZpath version of the test, which has been shown to detect changing pathology years before symptoms show up (Du et al. 2024), providing an opportunity for earlier intervention. The same cannot be claimed by other laboratories. Neurocode has compared the different pTau 217 assays available from other laboratories and has only chosen the best assay to offer. The results of this comparison are under review for publication (Mammel et al. 2024 (preprint)).
At this time, these tests are not covered by insurance and are available as cash pay only.