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Study provides new insights into biological processes linked to Huntington’s disease

A study conducted by the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and Hospital de Sant Pau has identified for the first time in living individuals a brain pattern related to the tau protein that changes according to the stage of Huntington's disease.

6 Jul 2026

Blood circRNAs may predict Alzheimer’s before symptoms emerge

Blood-based circular RNAs showed strong potential for identifying biomarker-confirmed Alzheimer’s disease and predicting progression to symptomatic disease. When combined with pTau217, the circRNA model produced the strongest predictive performance, but larger prospective validation is still needed.

2 Jul 2026

Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers predict rapid cognitive decline in very old adults

Cognitive decline in very old adults has been considered for decades to be an almost inevitable consequence of aging.

1 Jul 2026

Blood biomarker may predict Alzheimer's progression differently in men

A blood test does not lie, exactly. It reports a number. The question raised by a new mini-review in Brain Medicine, which gathers and weighs a decade of scattered findings, is whether clinicians have been reading the same number in two different ways without realizing it.

30 Jun 2026

A night without sleep alters neural connections in human brains

A night without sleep produced increased markers of connections between brain cells, showing that sleep in humans may be important for restoring cellular balance in the brain, according to a study published June 23rd in the open access journal PLOS Biology by David Elmenhorst from the Forschungszentrum Jülich Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and colleagues.

23 Jun 2026

Psychological traits may uncover why Alzheimer’s biology differs between patients

In 822 deceased older adults from ROS and MAP, researchers linked stable psychological traits to multi-omic molecular subtypes of Alzheimer’s dementia using postmortem brain tissue from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroticism and loneliness were associated with molecular progression, while purpose in life showed subtype-specific inverse associations, suggesting psychological traits may align with Alzheimer’s biology beyond conventional neuropathology.

22 Jun 2026

Lower Alzheimer’s amyloid levels in Black and Latinx adults

Findings show lower amyloid PET positivity in Black and Latinx adults with cognitive impairment, highlighting disparities in dementia diagnosis and treatment.

1 Jun 2026

New protocol screens clinical research participants for prior radiation exposure

A new study highlights a critical gap: most clinical research studies that use imaging techniques such as amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) scans do not account for the radiation participants have already received from prior medical procedures.

29 May 2026

Study finds lower Alzheimer’s pathology in Black and Hispanic patients

A large multisite study of older people with cognitive impairment finds that Black and Hispanic people, while known to be far more apt to have dementia, are significantly less apt than other racial and ethnic groups to show Alzheimer's pathology on brain scans.

27 May 2026

Poor sleep may flag early Alzheimer’s risk in genetically vulnerable older women

Poorer subjective sleep quality was linked to worse visual memory and greater limbic tau burden in older women with higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The findings suggest sleep complaints may help identify women at elevated risk for early AD-related brain and cognitive changes, but larger longitudinal studies are needed.

20 May 2026

PET/CT scans reveal biological activity of aggressive head and neck tumors

A research team led by the Medical University of Vienna has demonstrated in a recent study that the biological characteristics of a subgroup of head and neck tumors - which are very aggressive in many cases - are reflected in modern imaging techniques.

13 May 2026

Researchers map the brain histamine system to understand mental health

New research, from King's College London and the University of Porto, has mapped the histamine system in the brain. Histamine, a molecule more commonly associated with allergies, plays a separate but poorly understood role in brain function.

12 May 2026

Identifying the ages when Alzheimer’s biomarkers sharply change

New research identifies critical ages for Alzheimer's biomarkers, enhancing screening strategies and understanding neurodegeneration across the aging spectrum.

1 May 2026

Could vitamin D in midlife protect your brain from early Alzheimer’s?

Higher serum vitamin D in midlife is associated with reduced tau burden in the brain, highlighting its potential role in early dementia risk assessment.

7 Apr 2026

Highly potent opioid shows potential as therapy for pain and opioid use disorder

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have identified a novel, highly potent opioid that shows potential as a therapy for both pain and opioid use disorder.

1 Apr 2026

Menopause may raise women’s Alzheimer risk earlier than doctors once thought

This review argues that women’s higher Alzheimer disease risk may be shaped in part by midlife neuroendocrine aging, especially the menopause transition, rather than by longevity alone. It highlights early menopause, bilateral oophorectomy, vasomotor symptoms, and midlife cognitive changes as underinvestigated but potentially important risk markers, while calling for sex-specific, biomarker-driven prevention strategies.

18 Mar 2026

PET imaging reveals molecular mechanism behind ketamine's antidepressant effects

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, and approximately 30% of patients develop treatment-resistant depression (TRD), a condition that does not respond adequately to conventional antidepressant therapies.

6 Mar 2026

New blood biomarker may detect Alzheimer’s pathology more accurately

Researchers compared total plasma pTau217 with a brain-derived pTau217 assay to determine which better identifies Alzheimer’s disease–related amyloid and tau pathology. Brain-derived pTau217 showed strong diagnostic performance and appeared less affected by kidney dysfunction, supporting its potential as a more specific blood biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease.

3 Mar 2026

Researchers show red blood cells drive better glucose tolerance at high altitude

Chronic hypoxia improves glucose tolerance in mice through insulin-independent mechanisms, with red blood cells acting as a major systemic glucose sink. Increased erythrocyte production and altered glycolytic flux help reduce circulating glucose while supporting oxygen delivery to tissues.

22 Feb 2026

Study identifies PPP2R5C blood marker that may detect Alzheimer’s disease earlier

Emerging evidence suggests reduced plasma PPP2R5C levels may serve as an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease before overt clinical symptoms appear. The protein appears linked to tau regulation, autophagy pathways, and cognitive decline, supporting its potential diagnostic relevance.