New research suggests testing people’s memory over four weeks could identify who is at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease before it has developed. Importantly, the trial found testing people’s ability to retain memories for longer time periods could predict this more accurately than classic memory tests, which test memory over half an hour. The […]

Despite decades of research, genetic factors that predispose individuals to late-onset Alzheimer’s disease(LOAD) are not clearly understood. With a growing elderly population in the U.S. and many other developed countries, there is an urgent need for precise prognostic biomarkers and viable treatment options. Apart from advanced age, variants in the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene are […]

A novel form of an Alzheimer’s protein found in the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord indicates what stage of the disease a person is in, and tracks with tangles of tau protein in the brain, according to a study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Tau tangles […]

Reactive oxygen molecules, also known as “free radicals”, are generally considered harmful. However as it now turns out, they control cellular processes, which are important for the brain’s ability to adapt – at least in mice. The researchers focused on the “hippocampus”, a brain area that is regarded as the control center for learning and […]

A new study on Alzheimer’s disease by Scripps Research scientists has revealed a previously unknown biochemical cascade in the brain that leads to the destruction of synapses, the connections between nerve cells that are responsible for memory and cognition. The findings present a fresh angle for discovering drugs that treat Alzheimer’s disease, which affects roughly […]

Proof-of-concept study represents first successful attempt to reverse the aging clock in animals through epigenetic reprogramming. Scientists turned on embryonic genes to reprogram cells of mouse retinas. Approach reversed glaucoma-induced eye damage in animals. Approach also restored age-related vision loss in elderly mice. Work spells promise for using same approach in other tissues, organs beyond […]

A team of researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has taken a major step toward understanding the mechanisms involved in the formation of large clumps of tau protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and several other neurodegenerative disorders. Their findings may help to better understand the pathological process and possibly lead […]

Just a few doses of an experimental drug can reverse age-related declines in memory and mental flexibility in mice, according to a new study by UC San Francisco scientists. The drug, called ISRIB, has already been shown in laboratory studies to restore memory function months after traumatic brain injury (TBI), reverse cognitive impairments in Down […]

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, together with their colleagues at the Barcelona Beta Research Centre in Spain, the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the University of Paris, have found new forms of tau protein that become abnormal in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s disease before cognitive problems develop. The […]

A new study from Small’s laboratory found that, in many patients, tau secretion arises from tiny malfunctioning compartments inside the brain’s neurons, suggesting that these malfunctional compartments are commonly involved in the appearance of Alzheimer’s disease. These tiny compartments, called endosomes, function as a ‘grand central station’ and traffic proteins throughout a cell. The new […]