“We Need People to Participate”: Maria Reports on the Importance and Life-Saving Impact of Taking Part in Alzheimer's Research

Actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley knows the impact that Alzheimer's disease can have on a loved one and their family—her own mother died from the disease 11 years after her diagnosis. Though the pain and suffering of "the long goodbye," as Alzheimer's has come to be called, is well-known, the cause of the brain illness is still mostly a mystery, and Williams-Paisley wants to change that.

In conversation with Maria Shriver for TODAY, the actress and wife to country music superstar Brad Paisley discusses her participation in a long-form, intensive study out of Vanderbilt University that will include bloodwork, cognitive tests, and other testing to try and understand the connection between heart health and brain health. "We need people to participate in research, and I can do that and I can amplify that need by showing what I'm doing."

Research studies like this one often lack participants, especially diverse subjects, and Williams-Paisley is calling for more people to get involved. To learn more about Williams-Paisley's involvement in the study and the need for people to join research studies, watch Maria's reporting below.