A neuroscientist and cognitive neurologist based in Cambridge has paid tribute to a 24-year-old man with dementia who died over Christmas and left his brain to research.

The man, named Andre Yarham, was reportedly one of the youngest people in the UK to be diagnosed with dementia.

He was just 22 when he went to the doctors after his mother Samantha Fairbairn noticed changes in his behaviour.

Scans revealed unusual shrinking to his brain, and he was referred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a form of dementia that affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.

Andre died on 27 December, and his brain has now been donated to the hospital’s Cambridge Brain Bank for research.

Professor James Rowe (pictured), Andre’s consultant and lead for the Cambridge Centre for Frontotemporal Dementia, said that Andre’s donation will help the research team better understand the illness, detect it earlier and search for a cure.

He added: “I want to pay tribute to Andre and his family for this amazing legacy and their campaign to raise awareness of frontotemporal dementia, and the importance of research. Frontotemporal dementia is the most common form of dementia in young people.”

Frontotemporal dementia affects around one in 20 people with a dementia diagnosis, according to Dementia UK.

It usually develops between the ages of 45 and 65, whereas many other types are more common after the age of 65.