Alzheimer's Research News

August 12, 2026

Top Headlines

Teen Cannabis Use Linked to Slower Memory and Thinking Growth

Aug. 7, 2026 Teens who start using cannabis may experience slower growth in memory, attention, language, and processing speed. Their abilities often developed normally at first, then began leveling off while nonusers continued improving. THC appeared to be the ...

Nearly Half of Dementia Cases May Be Linked to Risks You Can Change

Aug. 6, 2026 A long-term brain study found that common risks such as smoking, high blood pressure, heart disease, and high blood lipids were strongly linked to damage associated with vascular dementia. The findings suggest that healthier lifestyle choices could ...

THC Medication Made PTSD Nightmares Disappear for More Than a Third of Patients

Aug. 5, 2026 A prescription form of THC helped many people with PTSD escape recurring trauma-related nightmares, with more than one-third reporting that the nightmares disappeared completely after ten weeks. The ...

Misfolded Insulin May Be Quietly Driving Diabetes

July 28, 2026 Researchers found that insulin-producing cells depend on a team of helper proteins to keep insulin production on track. When one key partner was missing, damaged proteins built up and the cells made less insulin. Strengthening this system could ...

A Hidden Alzheimer’s Tipping Point May Decide Who Gets Dementia

July 26, 2026 Scientists have identified a possible tipping point that helps determine whether Alzheimer’s-related brain changes lead to dementia. The key may lie in how the brain’s immune cells respond to plaques and tau, offering a promising new target for ...

Alzheimer’s Breakthrough: Scientists Restore Two Hours of Sleep Without Clearing Brain Plaques

July 20, 2026 Researchers have uncovered a surprising culprit behind sleep loss in Alzheimer’s disease: the brain’s own immune cells. In mice with amyloid plaques, overactive microglia triggered inflammation ...

New Alzheimer's Drug Repairs DNA Damage and Reduces Brain Inflammation

July 17, 2026 A drug originally developed for spinal cord injury may offer a fresh approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease. In mouse studies, KCL-286 repaired dangerous DNA damage, reduced inflammation, and targeted multiple disease-related pathways instead of ...

The Hidden Skeleton “Gatekeeper” Inside Brain Cells Could Help Fight Alzheimer's

July 15, 2026 Researchers have discovered that a microscopic skeleton inside neurons does much more than hold cells together. It acts as a gatekeeper that controls what brain cells absorb and when they absorb it. ...

Alzheimer's Tau Protein Has a Surprising Secret Role in Memory

July 12, 2026 Researchers found that tau is essential for turning new experiences into lasting memories by helping organize the brain's memory-storing cells. The mouse study also revealed how abnormal tau may contribute to Alzheimer's by disrupting both the ...

Scientists May Have Finally Found How Alzheimer's Kills Brain Cells

July 5, 2026 Researchers have identified a previously overlooked mechanism of brain cell death that appears to play a major role in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia. The finding could lead to new treatments aimed at slowing neuron loss by ...

Scientists Reprogram Brain Immune Cells to Fight Alzheimer’s

June 19, 2026 A newly identified molecule called OLE helped restore the brain’s immune cells to a more protective state in Alzheimer’s models. The treatment reduced toxic plaque buildup and improved memory, raising hopes for a new therapeutic ...

Scientists May Have Found What Really Triggers Alzheimer’s Disease

June 18, 2026 Scientists may have uncovered a hidden trigger behind Alzheimer’s disease. Instead of plaques being the root cause, amyloid beta appears to interfere with tau, a protein that helps keep neurons functioning properly. This disruption could set off ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:13am EDT

10 Surprising Ways Diabetes and Dementia Are Connected

June 16, 2026 Diabetes and dementia appear to be closely intertwined, with each condition potentially influencing the other. Problems with insulin and glucose can affect the brain’s energy supply, increase ...

Copper Drug Clears Toxic Alzheimer’s Proteins and Restores Memory

June 16, 2026 A copper-based compound restored the brain’s ability to clear toxic Alzheimer’s proteins, dramatically reducing amyloid buildup and improving memory in laboratory experiments. The findings point ...

Scientists Found a New Alzheimer’s Trigger and a Drug That Stops It

June 8, 2026 Researchers have identified a new Alzheimer’s target and created an experimental compound that blocks a damaging process inside brain cells. In mice, the treatment slowed nerve cell loss, reduced ...

Hidden Driving Danger When Edible Cannabis and Alcohol Mix

May 29, 2026 Using cannabis edibles and alcohol together may make drivers far more impaired than either substance alone, according to new research from Johns Hopkins. Even more concerning, common field sobriety ...

Scientists Say Guava Juice Could Make Iron Supplements Work Better

May 27, 2026 Researchers found that drinking guava juice may significantly improve anemia by helping the body absorb iron more efficiently. In a review of 17 studies, women and teenage girls who consumed guava ...

Common Heart Drug Taken by Millions Found Useless — and Possibly Dangerous

May 25, 2026 A massive international study could upend 40 years of heart attack treatment. Researchers found that beta blockers—routinely prescribed after ...

Scientists Found a Hidden Alzheimer’s Trigger and Shut It Down

May 20, 2026 A newly identified enzyme called IDOL could become a major new target in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found that removing it from neurons sharply reduced amyloid plaques and ...

Scientists Reverse Alzheimer’s in Mice With Breakthrough Nanotechnology

May 17, 2026 A new nanotechnology treatment reversed Alzheimer’s symptoms in mice by restoring the brain’s natural cleanup system. The specially engineered nanoparticles helped clear toxic amyloid proteins ...

Scientists Reversed Memory Loss by Recharging the Brain’s Tiny Engines

May 16, 2026 Researchers have shown for the first time that malfunctioning mitochondria — the cell’s energy generators — may directly cause cognitive decline in neurodegenerative diseases. By creating a new ...

Is Cannabis Safe After 65? Stanford Experts Reveal 5 Risks Older Adults Should Know

May 15, 2026 Cannabis use among older adults is rising fast, but today’s marijuana is far more potent than many people realize — and experts warn the risks ...

Scientists Discover a Hidden Brain “cleaning” Effect Triggered by Movement

May 1, 2026 Scientists have uncovered a surprising link between simple body movement and brain health: every time you tighten your abdominal muscles—even slightly—your brain may gently sway inside your ...

Alzheimer’s Drugs May Not Work and Could Raise Brain Risks

May 4, 2026 Drugs designed to clear amyloid beta from the brain—once seen as a promising path to slowing Alzheimer’s—may not actually help patients in any meaningful way, according to a major review of ...

Scientists Discover Why Your Appetite Suddenly Disappears When You’re Sick

Mar. 28, 2026 Scientists have uncovered how your body actually tells your brain to stop eating when you’re sick. In a new study, researchers found that specialized cells in the gut detect parasites and send ...

Cannabis Study Finds THC Can Create False Memories

Mar. 11, 2026 THC doesn’t just blur memories—it can create new ones that never happened. In a controlled experiment, cannabis users were much more likely to recall words that were never shown and struggled ...

A Surprising Blood Protein Pattern May Reveal Alzheimer’s

Mar. 12, 2026 A new study suggests Alzheimer’s disease may be detectable through subtle shape changes in proteins found in the blood. Researchers discovered that structural differences in three blood proteins ...

Scientists Turn Brain Cells Into Alzheimer’s Plaque Cleaners

Mar. 11, 2026 Scientists have developed a promising new approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease by turning ordinary brain cells into powerful plaque-clearing machines. Instead of requiring frequent antibody ...

Scientists Say We’ve Been Treating Alzheimer’s All Wrong

Apr. 10, 2026 Alzheimer’s isn’t just one problem—it’s a tangled mix of biology, aging, and overall health. That’s why drugs targeting a single factor have fallen short, even as new treatments show modest ...

Iron Outperforms Rare Metals in Stunning Chemistry Advance

Feb. 27, 2026 Researchers at Nagoya University have created a more efficient iron-based photocatalyst that could reduce the need for rare and expensive metals in advanced chemistry. Unlike earlier designs, the new ...

Scientists Just Watched Alzheimer’s Damage Happen in Real Time

Apr. 7, 2026 Scientists at Oregon State University have captured something researchers have long struggled to see: the real-time chemical interactions that help drive Alzheimer’s disease. By watching how metal ...

Simple Blood Test Can Forecast Alzheimer’s Years Before Memory Loss

Feb. 23, 2026 Scientists have created a blood test that can estimate when Alzheimer’s symptoms are likely to begin. By measuring a protein called p-tau217, the model predicts symptom onset within roughly three ...

This Daily Habit Could Lower Dementia Risk by 35%, Scientists Say

May 12, 2026 A huge long-term study found that drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was linked to a much lower risk of dementia, especially before age 75. Researchers say caffeine may help keep brain cells ...

Just 5 Weeks of Brain Training May Protect Against Dementia for 20 Years

Feb. 11, 2026 A simple brain-training program that sharpens how quickly older adults process visual information may have a surprisingly powerful long-term payoff. In a major 20-year study of adults 65 and older, ...

Scientists Restore Memory by Blocking a Single Alzheimer’s Protein

Apr. 30, 2026 Researchers have identified a new potential weapon against Alzheimer’s: blocking a protein called PTP1B. In mice, this approach boosted memory and helped brain immune cells clear harmful plaque ...

“Celtic Curse” Hotspots Found in Scotland and Ireland With 1 in 54 at Risk

Feb. 21, 2026 Researchers have mapped the genetic risk of hemochromatosis across the UK and Ireland for the first time, uncovering striking hotspots in north-west Ireland and the Outer Hebrides. In some regions, ...

A Silent Brain Disease Can Quadruple Dementia Risk

Feb. 1, 2026 Researchers studying nearly 2 million older adults found that cerebral amyloid angiopathy sharply raises the risk of developing dementia. Within five years, people with the condition were far more ...

Alzheimer’s Scrambles Memories While the Brain Rests

Feb. 1, 2026 When the brain rests, it usually replays recent experiences to strengthen memory. Scientists found that in Alzheimer’s-like mice, this replay still occurs — but the signals are jumbled and poorly ...

Obesity and High Blood Pressure May Directly Cause Dementia

Jan. 26, 2026 A new genetic study suggests that obesity and high blood pressure may play a direct role in causing dementia, not just increasing the risk. By analyzing data from large populations in Denmark and the ...

Cannabis Was Touted for Nerve Pain. The Evidence Falls Short

Jan. 19, 2026 Cannabis-based medicines have been widely promoted as a potential answer for people living with chronic nerve pain—but a major new review finds the evidence just isn’t there yet. After analyzing ...

Hearing Aids Didn’t Boost Memory Tests but Dementia Risk Dropped

Feb. 9, 2026 A long-term study of older adults with moderate hearing loss found that hearing aids did not lead to better performance on memory or thinking tests, but the story did not end there. Over seven years, ...

Massive Brain Study Reveals Why Memory Loss Can Suddenly Speed Up With Age

Jan. 14, 2026 A massive international brain study has revealed that memory decline with age isn’t driven by a single brain region or gene, but by widespread structural changes across the brain that build up over ...