Volume 29, Issue 2 of SLAS Discovery features two review articles, six original research articles covering phenotypic screening perspectives, medulloblastoma therapies and interventions for neurodegenerative diseases.
Even slight cognitive changes can affect an older person’s decision to stop driving, according to a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings suggest that routine cognitive testing — in particular, the kind of screening designed to pick up the earliest, most subtle decline — could help older adults and their physicians make decisions about driving that maximizes safety while preserving independence as long as possible.
What factors lead older adults to stop driving? A new study followed older adults who had no memory or thinking problems to examine this question. The study is published in the May 22, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
People who eat more ultra-processed foods like soft drinks, chips and cookies may have a higher risk of having memory and thinking problems and having a stroke than those who eat fewer processed foods, according to a new study published in the May 22, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that eating ultra-processed foods causes memory and thinking problems and stroke. It only shows an association.
A research team led by the University of California, Irvine has revealed the link between the frequency of sleep apnea events during the rapid-eye-movement stage and the severity of verbal memory impairment in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Verbal memory refers to the cognitive ability to retain and recall information presented through spoken words or written text and is particularly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s.
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have discovered that some brain cells age more rapidly than others, and they are disproportionately abundant in individuals afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, researchers observed sex-specific differences in the aging process of certain brain cells, with the female cortex exhibiting a higher ratio of “old” oligodendrocytes to “old” neurons compared to the male cortex.
Understanding the human exposome — a person’s myriad health exposures over a lifetime — can reveal unknowns about diseases not explained fully by our DNA. Artificial intelligence will be indispensable in efforts to understand the role of biology and environment in disease and health.
In a groundbreaking study published May 2, 2024 in Neuron, researchers have identified four new genetic risk factors for multiple system atrophy (MSA), shedding light on this poorly understood disorder.
With this funding, FAU researchers will shed light on the biological functions of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by taking advantage of synthetic chemistry strategies; provide an innovative online screening tool for older drivers with cognitive decline; and gain a deeper understanding of the role of brain cholesterol in AD.
NeuroTherapia, an early-stage clinical pharmaceutical company, announced today that it has received a grant from the Alzheimer's Association Part the Cloud program for the development of its first-in-class drug, NTRX-07, for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
UCLA Health researchers have discovered a mechanism that creates memories while reducing metabolic cost, even during sleep. This efficient memory occurs in a part of the brain that is crucial for learning and memory, and where Alzheimer’s disease begins.
Laurence Belfer, on behalf of Robert Belfer and the Belfer family, today announced a $20 million gift to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to strengthen neurodegeneration research through the Belfer Neurodegeneration Consortium (BNDC), a transformative multi-institutional initiative to advance the study and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
“AI-driven neuroimaging techniques have the potential to improve prediction models for Alzheimer’s progression and facilitate personalized treatment strategies,” says Domenico Praticò, MD, the Scott Richards North Star Foundation Chair for Alzheimer’s Research, Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology, and Director of the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple (ACT), at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM).
By transplanting human neural stem cells, researchers improved memory and reduced neuroinflammation in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease, suggesting another avenue for potential treatment, a study shows. Researchers say the improvements reported after stem cell transplantation must be further studied in mice before advancing to larger animals and, eventually, humans.
A newly developed nanomaterial that mimics the behavior of proteins could be an effective tool for treating Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. The nanomaterial alters the interaction between two key proteins in brain cells — with a potentially powerful therapeutic effect.
Patients with a common movement disorder known as essential tremor (ET) developed dementia at three times the rate of similarly aged people in the general population, a study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers shows. Their findings, published in the Annals of Neurology, provide the first concrete data to help doctors counsel those with this condition on their cognitive prognosis, future plans, and potential treatments, the authors said.
The gathering brings together industry experts and leading researchers to bring the latest science to the people in an interactive forum where they can exchange current information and ongoing advances.
Using state-of-the-art microscopy techniques developed on campus, researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine have shed new light on the underlying mechanisms driving Alzheimer’s disease.
An intricate simulation performed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers using one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers sheds new light on how proteins called SNAREs cause biological membranes to fuse.
The harder your brain works at your job, the less likely you may be to have memory and thinking problems later in life, according to a new study published in the April 17, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“Are the risk factors for early onset Alzheimer’s the same as late onset?” asks Domenico Praticò, MD, the Scott Richards North Star Foundation Chair for Alzheimer’s Research, Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology, and Director of the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple (ACT), at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM)
Caring for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease is challenging. In addition to the financial and physical demands, many caregivers are unprepared for the stress of trying to effectively communicate with a loved one who may be prone to agitation, verbal aggression, and hallucinations.
A changing climate may be linked to growing death and disability from stroke in regions around the world, according to a study published in the April 10, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Racial discrimination experienced during midlife is associated with Alzheimer’s disease pathology, according to a new study from researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Georgia. The findings appear online today in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
In findings published in Cell Reports, senior author Jerold Chun, M.D., Ph.D., and team also discovered that the biological instructions within these vesicles differed significantly in postmortem brain samples donated from patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Proteins known as oligomeric chaperones help suppress the formation of misshaped proteins that cause a variety of degenerative and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s. In a new study, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers identified a key feature necessary for one of these oligomeric chaperones, known as DNAJB8, to assemble from disparate parts and showed that the parts alone can reshape misfolded proteins. The findings, published in Structure, could lead to better ways to diagnose and treat these conditions.
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will present data on the latest research across the full spectrum of Neurology – including a link between head injury and suicide, potential traumatic brain injury biomarkers, a promising new drug to treat multiple sclerosis – at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting from April 13-18 in Denver, Colorado. Follow us on Twitter @PennMedicine and @PennMDForum for updates.
A research team led by Dr. Kim Yun Kyung from the Brain Science Institute at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), in collaboration with Professor Chang Young-Tae's team from Pohang University of Science and Technology, has announced the development of a next-generation neuron labeling technology called NeuM.
A new study conducted in mice traces how obesity and a high-fat diet may accelerate aging in the blood vessels that supply blood to the brain. The work is being presented this week at the American Physiology Summit, the flagship annual meeting of the American Physiological Society.
Earlier menopause combined with higher risk of cardiovascular disease is linked to an increased risk of thinking and memory problems later, according to a new study published in the April 3, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. In this study, earlier menopause is defined as occurring before age 49.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that treating mice with an antibody that blocks the interaction between APOE proteins (white) sprinkled within Alzheimer’s disease plaques and the LILRB4 receptor on microglia cells (purple) activates them to clean up damaging plaques (blue) in the brain.
A new study recently published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology uses leading-edge cryo-electron microscopy imaging technology to determine whether differences exist between the protein structures in those with Alzheimer’s disease and those with both Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome.
A gene therapy developed by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center for a rare disease called giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) was well tolerated in pediatric patients and showed clear benefits, a new study reports. Findings from the phase one clinical trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, could offer hope for patients with this rare condition and a host of other neurological diseases.
Just as you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that you can’t make long-term memories without DNA damage and brain inflammation. Their surprising findings were published online today in the journal Nature.
A new study found higher levels of neurodegeneration in rats that consumed reused deep fried cooking oils and their offspring compared to rats on a normal diet.
A new study published in JAMA Neurology found human brains are getting bigger. The increased size may lead to a brain reserve, potentially reducing the risk of dementia.
New research conducted in mice offers insights into what’s going on at the molecular level that could cause people with diabetes to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Using novel genetic and genomic tools, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have shed light on the role of immune cells called macrophages in lipid-rich tissues like the brain, advancing our understanding of Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
According to new research at Case Western Reserve University, connecting with friends is key to limiting social isolation—something researchers believe could also reduce Alzheimer’s, dementia
Dementia stands as one of the most significant global health challenges of the 21st century, with over 50 million individuals worldwide currently affected, a number projected to triple by 2050, reaching 152 million, due to global population aging.
A collaborative effort between Israeli and Italian researchers has led to the development of a new treatment strategy targeting the early-stage aggregation of A-beta before the formation of toxic oligomers.
For the first time, researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities showed that non-invasive brain stimulation can change a specific brain mechanism that is directly related to human behavior.
“While our research does not prove that veterans who experienced these injuries will develop Alzheimer’s disease, it raises the possibility that they may be on a pathway leading to dementia,” said Dr. Ge Li, the paper's first author and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UW Medicine.
Chula Medicine has designed an anti-choke mug with calculated angle, amount, and time of water flow from the mug to the patient’s lips hoping to reduce choking that may lead to lung infection, bring peace of mind to caregivers, and make it safer for patients who will have a better quality of life.
Middle-age veterans who experienced concussions due to blasts from explosive devices may have biomarkers in their spinal fluid similar to people who develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published in the March 13, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.