Alzheimer's Research News

December 20, 2024

Top Headlines

Poor Vascular Health Accelerates Brain Aging

Dec. 20, 2024 — Using an AI tool, researchers have analyzed brain images from 70-year-olds and estimated their brains' biological age. They found that factors detrimental to vascular health, such as inflammation and high glucose levels, are associated with an ...

The Surprising Role of Gut Infection in Alzheimer's Disease

Dec. 19, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a surprising link between a chronic gut infection caused by a common virus and the development of Alzheimer's disease in a subset of people. It is believed most humans are exposed to this virus -- called cytomegalovirus ...

First Successful Clinical Trial of VU319 Brings Alzheimer's Treatment One Step Closer

Dec. 19, 2024 — Phase I clinical trial of a drug was successfully completed, with promise to treat Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. The compound, named VU319, is the first end-to-end drug discovery ...

Study Finds Antibiotics Not Linked to Dementia

Dec. 18, 2024 — For healthy older adults, using antibiotics is not associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment or dementia, according to a new ...

Latest Headlines

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Study Supports New Blood-Based Biomarker to Detect Early Brain Changes Leading to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

Dec. 18, 2024 — To identify and follow blood vessel-related changes in the brain that contribute to cognitive impairment and dementia, researchers and clinicians ...

Brain Inflammation Alters Behavior According to Sex, Mouse Study Finds

Dec. 19, 2024 — Inflammation in the hippocampus -- the brain's memory center -- significantly alters motivation and behavior in mice, according to new ...

Peptide-Guided Nanoparticles Deliver mRNA to Neurons

Dec. 17, 2024 — Engineers have modified lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) -- the revolutionary technology behind the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines -- to not only cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) but also to target specific ...

Study Finds Lower Rates of Death from Alzheimer's Disease Among Taxi and Ambulance Drivers

Dec. 16, 2024 — A new study raises the possibility that jobs that require frequent spatial processing -- such as figuring out a taxi route or the best way to ...

Common Brain Network Links Brain Atrophy Patterns Seen in Schizophrenia

Dec. 12, 2024 — A new study has identified a unique brain network that links varied patterns of brain atrophy, or shrinkage, associated with ...

Fluctuating Blood Pressure Tied to Problems With Thinking Skills

Dec. 11, 2024 — Older adults whose blood pressure fluctuates over time may be more likely to have problems with thinking and memory skills, according to a new study. The association was found in Black participants ...

Study Helps Solve Mystery Between Repeated Head Impacts in Sports and Location of Brain Degeneration in CTE

Dec. 9, 2024 — A new study is helping solve the mystery as to why the brain shrinks in a unique pattern, known as atrophy, in chronic traumatic encephalopathy ...

Network-Based Analyses Uncover How Neuroinflammation-Causing Microglia in Alzheimer's Disease Form

Dec. 6, 2024 — Researchers have unraveled how immune cells called microglia can transform and drive harmful processes like neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease. ...

Women With Ovarian Removal Have Unique Risk and Resilience Factors for Alzheimer Disease

Dec. 5, 2024 — New research has found that women who have had both ovaries surgically removed before the age of 50 and carry a variant of the apolipoprotein gene, ...

To Remember Conversations, Keep Making New Brain Cells

Dec. 5, 2024 — A new study provides the first cellular evidence that making new brain cells in adults supports verbal learning and memory, which enables people to have conversations and to remember what they hear. ...

Lasting Effects of Common Herbicide on Brain Health

Dec. 4, 2024 — New research identifies an association between glyphosate exposure in mice and symptoms of neuroinflammation, as well as accelerated Alzheimer's disease-like pathology. This study tracks both ...

Novel All-in-One Computational Pipeline Identifies Protein Biomarkers Associated With Alzheimer's Disease and Predicts 3D Structural Alterations

Dec. 4, 2024 — Researchers have developed a novel computational pipeline designed to identify protein biomarkers associated with complex diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). This innovative tool ...

Research on Neurodegeneration in Spider Brain Leads Neuroscientists to Groundbreaking New Discovery in Alzheimer's-Affected Human Brains

Dec. 3, 2024 — What do spiders and Alzheimer's disease have in common? A team of researchers may have just uncovered the answer. Researchers from have made a groundbreaking connection between brain 'waste ...

How Dementia Affects the Brain's Ability to Empathize

Dec. 3, 2024 — Patients with frontotemporal dementia often lack the ability to empathize. A study has now shown that these patients do not show the same brain activity as healthy individuals when they witness the ...

Hidden Fat Predicts Alzheimer's 20 Years Ahead of Symptoms

Dec. 2, 2024 — Researchers have linked a specific type of body fat to the abnormal proteins in the brain that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease up to 20 years before the earliest symptoms of dementia ...

Ketone Bodies: More Than Energy, They Are Powerful Signaling Metabolites That Clean Up Damaged Proteins

Dec. 2, 2024 — Ketone bodies are not just about energy. These metabolites are powerful signaling molecules that have profound effects on the proteome and protein quality control in the brain. Scientists, working in ...

Common Heart Drug May Slow Progression of Huntington's Disease

Dec. 2, 2024 — Beta-blocker drugs -- commonly used to treat heart and blood pressure issues -- may slow the progression of Huntington's disease (HD), according to a new ...

'Alzheimer's in Dish' Model Shows Promise for Accelerating Drug Discovery

Nov. 27, 2024 — A decade ago, researchers introduced a new model for studying Alzheimer's disease. Known as 'Alzheimer's in a dish,' the model uses cultures of mature brain cells suspended in a ...

Machine Learning Reveals Behaviors Linked With Early Alzheimer's, Points to New Treatments

Nov. 26, 2024 — Scientists used a new video-based machine learning tool to pinpoint otherwise-undetectable signs of early disease in mice that were engineered to mimic key aspects of Alzheimer's. Their work ...

Healing the Gut Can Reduce Long-Term Impact of Stroke

Nov. 26, 2024 — Healing the gut may be the key to improving long-term recovery in stroke patients, scientists have found. The latest of multiple studies highlights the potential of this novel avenue of treatment, ...

Research Links Wildfire Smoke Exposure With Increased Dementia Risk

Nov. 25, 2024 — Research found that wildfire smoke is especially hazardous to people's memory health. An analysis of the health care records of 1.2 million Southern California residents found that higher ...

Alzheimer's: New Strategy for Amyloid Diagnostics

Nov. 25, 2024 — A research group has investigated how Alzheimer's disease can be diagnosed more reliably in the ...

Study Reveals New Way to Unlock Blood-Brain Barrier, Potentially Opening Doors to Treat Brain and Nerve Diseases

Nov. 25, 2024 — Researchers developed an innovative approach -- demonstrated in mouse models and isolated human brain tissue -- to safely and effectively deliver therapeutics into the brain, providing new ...

Brain Shrinkage Associated With Alzheimer's Therapies Shows Effectiveness Rather Than Harm

Nov. 25, 2024 — A loss of brain volume associated with new immunotherapies for Alzheimer's disease may be caused by the removal of amyloid plaques, rather than the loss of neurons or brain tissue, finds a new ...

Signals of Inflammation During Pregnancy Linked to Aging and Memory Changes 50 Years Later

Nov. 21, 2024 — A new study analyzed data from participants who have been followed for over 50 years, starting before their births. Researchers found that maternal immune activity during a critical period of ...

How Educational Attainment May Impact Memory and Dementia Risk Later in Life

Nov. 20, 2024 — Historical policies shaping educational attainment have enduring benefits for later life memory and risk of dementia, according to a new study. The study compared the differences in years of ...

Dementia Risk Prediction: Zero-Minute Assessment at Less Than a Dollar Cost

Nov. 20, 2024 — A study by researchers presents their low cost, scalable methodology for the early identification of individuals at risk of developing dementia. While the condition remains incurable, there are a ...

Listening for Early Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

Nov. 20, 2024 — People with Alzheimer's exhibit a loss of motor control along with cognitive decline, and one of the earliest signs of this decay can be spotted in involuntary eye movements known as saccades. ...

Cardiovascular Drugs May Reduce Dementia Risk

Nov. 19, 2024 — Common cardiovascular drugs are linked to a lower risk of dementia in older age, according to a new ...

Earlier Diabetes Diagnosis Linked to Dementia Risk

Nov. 19, 2024 — People diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at a younger age are at a higher risk for developing dementia than those diagnosed later in life, according to a new study. The findings show that the increased ...