The Brain: Alzheimer's and dementia news and discussions

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Scientists discover how brain cells die in Alzheimer’s

4 hours ago

Scientists in the UK and Belgium think they have figured out how brain cells die in Alzheimer's disease.

It has been a mystery and a source of scientific debate for decades.

But the team, writing in the journal Science, connect the abnormal proteins that build up in the brain with "necroptosis" - a form of cellular suicide.

The findings have been described as "cool" and "exciting", as they give new ideas for treating the disease.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66816268

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Simple test could help predict risk of Alzheimer's disease 20 years in advance
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-09- ... vance.html
by The Australian National University

A simple, cheap and non-invasive blood test could help predict a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease up to 20 years before symptoms show.

Physicists from The Australian National University (ANU) have come up with a way to use nanotechnology, combined with artificial intelligence (AI), to analyze proteins in blood to search for signs of early neurodegeneration, or tell-tale "biomarkers" that point to the onset of Alzheimer's.

The ANU physicists have developed an ultra-thin silicon chip containing "nanopores"—tiny, nanometer-sized holes that analyze the proteins one at a time with help from an advanced AI algorithm. The research is published in Small Methods.

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Light therapy helps the brain clear out toxic Alzheimer’s proteins
By Paul McClure
https://newatlas.com/medical/photothera ... a-amyloid/
September 24, 2023

A new study has found that light therapy applied to mice during deep sleep increased the brain’s ability to clear away beta-amyloid, a toxic protein linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The finding may lead to a non-drug, non-invasive treatment for the condition.

Despite their tireless efforts, researchers have been unable to develop a safe and effective way of treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using pharmaceuticals, which has meant turning to non-pharmaceutical methods. A new study has demonstrated the therapeutic potential of light therapy, or phototherapy, in treating AD, showing promising results in mice that the researchers hope can be just as effective in humans.

In the study, the researchers used photobiomodulation (PBM), a non-pharmaceutical therapy that employs red and near-infrared lights to stimulate the body to heal itself. There’s evidence to suggest that PBM causes an increase in metabolism and microcirculation in the brain, in addition to reversing oxidative stress and inflammation. Recent studies discovered that PBM can stimulate the brain’s lymphatic system to remove wastes and toxins.

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Surgery-free brain stimulation offers new hope for dementia treatment
By Bronwyn Thompson
https://newatlas.com/medical/brain-stim ... treatment/
October 19, 2023

Scientists have completed a successful human trial using new high-frequency technology to stimulate neurons in the hippocampus, the area responsible for forming, organizing and retrieving memories. This non-invasive, painless treatment is now being trialed in older individuals with cognitive impairment, as a potential way to improve memory loss and function caused by Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

The research, led by scientists at Imperial College London (ICL), is known as temporal interference (TI) brain stimulation. It involves delivering two harmless high-frequency electric fields into the brain. The beams are set at 2,000 Hz and 2,005 Hz, and where they cross they create a third 5-Hz current. This current is the key – it is at the same frequency at which brain cells fire.

This 5-Hz current will be stimulated in the hippocampus and does not affect healthy brain tissue in any other regions. It’s here scientists hope that diseased neurons will be ‘sparked’ back into action and revive the cell-powering mitochondria, which become damaged by Alzheimer’s.

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Study on largest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's points toward new drug target
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10- ... -drug.html
by Gladstone Institutes

If you're one of the nearly 25 percent of people with the gene variant known as APOE4, you have a higher-than-average chance of developing Alzheimer's disease. But while scientists have long known that APOE4 leads to changes in the brain that can contribute to dementia, the exact mechanism of that effect has been unclear.

Now, scientists at Gladstone Institutes have discovered that APOE4-producing neurons release an immune signaling molecule called HMGB1 at much higher rates than neurons producing other APOE variants. Upon release, HMGB1 activates brain immune cells called microglia, which then trigger inflammation and the degeneration of neurons.

As described in their study recently published in Cell Reports, when the researchers blocked the release of HMGB1 with a mixture of two experimental drugs, mouse models producing APOE4 and other dementia-causing factors showed much less microglial activation and neurodegeneration in the brain.

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New large-scale study results add to evidence that vestibular loss increases dementia risk
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10- ... -loss.html
by Stephanie Baum , Medical Xpress

Existing research shows a link between hearing loss and the risk of dementia, and a new study adds to growing evidence that vestibular loss can increase dementia risk as well. Results from this work, by a team from the Korea University College of Medicine, are published in Scientific Reports.

Dementia is characterized by problems with judgment, language, memory, mood and social behavior, and problem-solving. Meanwhile, through its role in discerning head movement and spatial alignment, the vestibular system helps many animals, including humans, maintain balance.

Previous findings posit that vestibular system involvement in visuospatial processing may help guide cognitive functioning. In animals and in humans, issues with executive functioning and memory, processing speed, and spatial cognition impairment have all been linked to bilateral vestibulopathy, and vestibular disorders are more common in people with cognitive loss.

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Drug slows tau’s transformation into toxic tangles seen in Alzheimer's
By Paul McClure
November 08, 2023

Researchers have found that when used on monkeys, an experimental drug slowed the process that leads the tau protein to aggregate into neuron-damaging tangles commonly seen in Alzheimer’s disease and improved the animals’ cognitive functioning. The next step is to develop a drug that can be used in humans.

Much of the research into treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is focused on the removal of built-up amyloid beta or tau, but by the time these harmful proteins have accumulated, they’ve likely already caused damage to neurons.

Better, then, to find ways of preventing the build-up before it happens. That’s what researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have done, teaming up with Johns Hopkins University to identify an experimental drug that slows the phosphorylation of tau, a process that leads to its aggregation and subsequent neuronal damage in AD.

https://newatlas.com/medical/experiment ... lzheimers/

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Wireless, handheld, non-invasive device detects Alzheimer's and Parkinson's biomarkers
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11- ... eimer.html
by University of California - San Diego

An international team of researchers has developed a handheld, non-invasive device that can detect biomarkers for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases. The biosensor can also transmit the results wirelessly to a laptop or smartphone.

The team tested the device on in vitro samples from patients and showed that it is as accurate as the state of the art. Ultimately, researchers plan to test saliva and urine samples with the biosensor. The device could be modified to detect biomarkers for other conditions as well.

Researchers present their findings in the Nov. 13, 2023 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The device relies on electrical rather than chemical detection, which researchers say is easier to implement and more accurate.

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Portable device detects Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s biomarkers on the spot
By Ben Coxworth
November 15, 2023
https://newatlas.com/medical/portable-d ... iomarkers/

Because of the logistics and invasive procedures involved, many people put off getting tested for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Thanks to a new portable device, however, such testing could soon be performed non-invasively at just about any location.

Ordinarily, testing for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s requires patients to travel to a hospital or clinic where they undergo a spinal tap and MRI scan. Needless to say, not many people are enthusiastic about doing so, plus they may lack the physical mobility or means of transportation needed to make the trip.

Seeking a more appealing alternative, an international team of scientists has adapted an existing portable device – which was designed to detect the COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus – so that it can detect biomarker compounds associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. More specifically, it detects amyloid beta and tau peptides which have been linked to Alzheimer’s, along with alpha synuclein proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease.

The device has so far been tested on brain tissue samples from deceased Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients, where it proved to be as accurate as state-of-the-art testing techniques. That said, the ultimate goal is for it to detect the biomarkers in live patients' saliva or urine samples.