Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

New understanding of neurovascular coupling

A new study published in the journal Nature in February 2020 reports the discovery of a control mechanism in mouse brains, which makes it possible to sensitively regulate the flow of blood to different areas of the brain, to supply enough to more active areas.

19 Feb 2020

Environment-cognition associations vary based on genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's

The neighborhood environment may positively or negatively influence one's ability to maintain cognitive function with age. Since older adults spend less time outside, the neighborhood environment increases in importance with age.

19 Feb 2020

Diverse activities are key to maintaining cognitive function throughout adulthood

For many adults, the mid-30's is a busy time. There's often career advancement, the start of a new family and associated responsibilities.

18 Feb 2020

Survey: Majority of Americans strongly support organ and tissue donation for research

A strong majority of Americans agree that organ and tissue donation for research contributes to health and medical breakthroughs and acknowledge significant shortfalls for donation.

18 Feb 2020

Study reveals how cells remove misfolded proteins from tissues

Researchers in Japan have identified a new quality control system that allows cells to remove damaged and potentially toxic proteins from their surroundings.

18 Feb 2020

Dementia prevalence falling but the number of cases will double by 2050

Alzheimer Europe presented a new study at a European Parliament lunch debate in February 2020, which projects a doubling of the number of cases with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by 2050.

18 Feb 2020

Fruit flies have a new defense strategy to deal with oxidative stress

Oxidative stress affects all living organisms, and the damage it causes is believed to play a part in cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and a number of other health conditions.

18 Feb 2020

Study uses MRI to probe non-invasively inside a living brain

The wiring network of the brain is made up of billions of nerve fibers called axons. The thickness of axons - together with other properties - significantly impacts the way in which they conduct neural signals, and therefore the overall processing speed of connected neurons and brain areas.

18 Feb 2020

Depth perception tests could identify people living with dementia who are at an increased risk of falling

New research has found that special eye tests could help identify which people living with dementia struggle most with judging distances, which is known to increase the risk of falling.

18 Feb 2020

Research suggests new approach to block tau pathology in FTLD, Alzheimer's

The protein β-arrestin-2 increases the accumulation of neurotoxic tau tangles, a cause several forms of dementia, by interfering with removal of excess tau from the brain, a new study by the University of South Florida Health Morsani College of Medicine found.

17 Feb 2020

Fragile X syndrome-causing repeats help human neurons function, study finds

Over half of our genomes are made of repeating elements within DNA. In rare cases, these repeats can become unstable and grow in size. These repeat "expansions" cause neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and dementia as well as learning disorders and autism in Fragile X syndrome.

17 Feb 2020

New wearable device to diagnose Alzheimer's disease

With tens of millions of people the world over being affected by dementia, and almost 80% of them suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD), the Early Detection of Neurodegenerative diseases (Edon) is looking into a novel device to test for AD early in the process, using wearable technology. This will play a crucial role in intervening and preventing the progression of this disease, the prevalence of which has increased by almost 90% since 2000.

16 Feb 2020

Subtle differences in cognitive performance predict progression to Alzheimer's pathology

Alzheimer's disease is progressive, but slow to develop -- or at least to reveal itself. In a new study, published online February 14, 2020 in the journal Biological Psychiatry, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues elsewhere, report that early, subtle differences in cognitive performance, such as fewer words recalled on a memory test, are a sign that harmful proteins are accumulating in the brain, even if levels of those proteins do not yet qualify as dangerous.

16 Feb 2020