Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Healthy heart may protect older adults from disability

A healthy heart is important to the well-being of older adults. The American Heart Association (AHA) defines "ideal cardiovascular health" based on four health behaviors (current smoking, body mass index, physical activity, and healthy diet and three health factors (total cholesterol, blood pressure), and fasting blood glucose level).

26 Oct 2017

National study to examine effects of nicotine patch on older adults with MCI

Three years ago Reece Dean, of Nashville's Bellevue community, retired at age 69 from a career as a busy truck driver. With her husband of 49 years home more consistently, Mary Ann Dean began to notice some changes in his memory and behavior.

26 Oct 2017

UCLA researchers precisely stimulate the brain to enhance recollection of distinct memories

Neuroscientists at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have discovered precisely where and how to electrically stimulate the human brain to enhance people's recollection of distinct memories. People with epilepsy who received low-current electrical pulses showed a significant improvement in their ability to recognize specific faces and ignore similar ones.

25 Oct 2017

Study reveals why Alzheimer's drugs fail in clinical trials

A tremendous amount of Amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) (a peptide of ～40 amino acids) accumulates in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients. γ-Secretase inhibitors were designed to inhibit the enzymatic activity that produces Aβ. By reducing Aβ production, γ-secretase inhibitors were considered able to treat Alzheimer's disease (Aβ hypothesis).

25 Oct 2017

NIH launches major effort to discover, catalog the brain's ‘parts list’

The National Institutes of Health has launched a major effort to discover and catalog the brain's "parts list." The NIH's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® Initiative Cell Census Network aims to provide researchers with a comprehensive reference of the diverse cell types in human, monkey, and mouse brain.

24 Oct 2017

Physical and emotional benefits of exercise

You have probably heard that exercise is good for your health, but did you know that it can actually help to heal your body? Understanding the value of exercise is more important than ever since our nation is in the midst of an "inactivity epidemic."

23 Oct 2017

UCI researchers aim to identify early indicators of dementia

With $3.8 million in support from the National Institute on Aging, University of California, Irvine neurobiologists are working to identify the early indicators of dementia in older adults as disease-related brain plaques accumulate but before symptoms can be observed.

23 Oct 2017

New synthetic genetic tool measures and manipulates protein aggregation in live cells

A common thread ties seemingly unlinked disorders like Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes together. This thread is known as protein aggregation and happens when proteins clump together. These complexes are a hallmark of many diseases but have recently been linked to beneficial functions as well.

20 Oct 2017

Delayed word processing could indicate MCI patients’ likelihood of developing Alzheimer's

A delayed neurological response to processing the written word could be an indicator that a patient with mild memory problems is at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, research led by the University of Birmingham has discovered.

20 Oct 2017

Penn researchers functionally dissect gene variant linked to FTLD

Seven years ago, Penn Medicine researchers showed that mutations in the TMEM106B gene significantly increased a person's risk of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), the second most common cause of dementia in those under 65.

19 Oct 2017

Yale study finds reduced brain glucose levels in people with obesity, type 2 diabetes

Glucose levels are reduced in the brains of individuals with obesity and type 2 diabetes compared to lean individuals, according to a new Yale study. The finding might explain disordered eating behavior -- and even a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease -- among obese and diabetic individuals, the researchers said.

19 Oct 2017

New imaging system offers better way to monitor brain changes from Alzheimer's in mouse models

An estimated 5.5 million Americans live with Alzheimer's disease, a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Although treatments can slow the worsening of symptoms, scientists are still working to better understand the neurodegenerative disease so that curative and preventative medicines can be developed.

17 Oct 2017

USC study reveals how schizophrenia has biological effect on the entire brain

Some 40 years since CT scans first revealed abnormalities in the brains of schizophrenia patients, international scientists say the disorder is a systemic disruption to the brain's entire communication system.

17 Oct 2017

Findings reveal how seizures can have lasting detrimental effects on memory

Although it's been clear that seizures are linked to memory loss and other cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease, how this happens has been puzzling. In a study published in the journal Nature Medicine, a team of researchers reveals a mechanism that can explain how even relatively infrequent seizures can lead to long-lasting cognitive deficits in animal models.

16 Oct 2017

Researchers identify new molecular pathway that controls aging in worms

Investigators at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Health System have identified a new molecular pathway that controls lifespan and healthspan in worms and mammals.

13 Oct 2017

Report: Global burden of neurological disorders in today’s world

Globally, the burden of neurological disorders (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, epilepsy etc) has increased substantially over the past 25 years.

13 Oct 2017

Specific regions of silenced DNA help define cell's identity, study suggests

The fundamental mechanisms governing how cells form an identity such as becoming a muscle cell or a nerve cell are not fully understood. Multiple diseases, including cancer, have been linked to cells going down the wrong developmental path during maturation.

13 Oct 2017