Research led by the Keck School of Medicine shows lowering levels of an oxygenated version of cholesterol called oxysterol could be a new target for treating Alzheimer’s disease and similar neurodegenerative diseases of aging. Previous research suggests low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in the brain could increase a person’s risk…

Inhaling the inert gas xenon could protect against neurodegeneration and offset some of the key features of Alzheimer’s disease, preclinical studies suggest. The findings in mice reveal a novel therapeutic application for this noble gas, which has been used as an anesthetic in humans since the mid-20th century and as…

Research led by New York University Grossman School of Medicine and the Institute of Medical Biochemistry Leopoldo de Meis in Brazil has identified two biomarkers in the blood that decrease as cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease progresses. The researchers found that the protein acetyl-L-carnitine was reduced in both men and…

New evidence of a “waste canal system” in the human brain has been uncovered by researchers from Saint Michael’s College and the University of Vermont. Part of their research was on neurodegeneration in Central American wandering spiders. This “canal” system internalizes waste from healthy neurons. The team found that it…

Older adults who experience skeletal muscle loss may be at a significantly higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, according to new research presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The study suggests that people with greater muscle loss, measured in a muscle…

The presence of a specific type of fat, known as visceral fat, in midlife can predict risk for Alzheimer’s disease in later years, according to research led by Washington University School of Medicine. Obesity between the age of 40 and 60 years is known to be linked to increased risk…

Researchers at the University of California (UC) Irvine have conducted a transcriptomics analysis of Alzheimer’s disease, looking at the spatial differences in gene expression found across the brains of patients with early-stage and late-stage Alzheimer’s, as well as Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome. Their results, published in Nature Genetics, uncovered…

Researchers at the École de Technologie Supérieure in Montreal and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire have created an in-ear device that can listen for early signs of Alzheimer’s disease or similar conditions. Estimates suggest that almost seven million Americans have the neurodegenerative condition Alzheimer’s disease. While there is no cure…

New diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) were announced recently by the International Working Group (IWG) at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference in Madrid, Spain. A significant change in these diagnostic recommendations, published in JAMA Neurology, is defining the disease as a clinical-biological entity where diagnosis takes…

A study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine, shows that a synthetic THC, known as dronabinol, has been shown to effectively reduce agitation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. The findings, presented at the International Psychogeriatric Association conference in Buenos…

An international team of researchers has developed a promising new drug that works on both major Tau protein aggregation “hotspots,” a key driver of neurodegeneration including Alzheimer’s disease. The novel peptide inhibitor, RI-AG03, has demonstrated efficacy in preventing Tau aggregation in both laboratory and fruit fly studies, while showing no…

Researchers from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB) in Cambridge, England and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) at the University of Cambridge have developed new potential therapies that selectively remove the aggregated tau tangles to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Their work, detailed in two…

A novel technique developed by researchers at the Washington University (WashU) School of Medicine has allowed them to study aged neurons in the lab without the need for a brain biopsy. The technique has identified aspects of the genome of cells in the development of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that…

A research team led by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has mapped gene expression across six areas of the brain linked to Alzheimer’s disease using a single-cell transcriptomics approach. Writing in Nature, the authors explain that they were able to map 1.3 million cells from 283 post-mortem brain…

Dementia is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease, but not all patients with it will go on to develop the progressive brain disorder for which there is no cure. Early detection, however, allows for the treatment of symptoms and the building support and medical care teams. Now, a team of…