Even without entering the brain, SARS-CoV-2 jolts the choroid plexus into signaling danger via inflammatory signals. Microglia, astrocytes, and neurons mount a response resembling that in neurodegenerative and chronic brain disorders.
Finally, blood biomarkers for AD are here. Alas, the path to routine use is fraught. At AAIC, scientists discussed new guidelines, head-to-head comparisons, and logistical, technical, and ethical hurdles ahead.
The I-CONECT trial found that regular video chats boosted cognition in socially isolated older people. Even a weekly phone call enhanced their feelings of social connectedness.
In a large European study, the scans changed the diagnosis in a third of cases. They boosted the doctor's confidence in making the call, and predicted cognitive decline.
Recent conferences revealed that tau is most toxic in oligomeric form, that tau oligomers propagate throughout the brain, and that tau oligomers might harm synapses from within or via astrocytes.
Many researchers believe that neurodegeneration's takeover of one's brain might be driven by pathogenic, misfolded proteins spreading through interconnected neural networks...
Longitudinal studies in DS have pegged biomarkers and cognitive measures as potential clinical trial readouts. Hundreds of adults are anticipated to join trial-ready cohorts this year.
Soluble p-tau, aggregation epicenters, and gene variants emerged as potential forces that might influence how quickly tangles propagate through the brain.
By pooling single-nucleus RNA-sequencing datasets, scientists found consistent changes across Alzheimer’s cohorts. Examples: hypermetabolic transcription, and a new neuron population that dies early on.
Crenezumab Secondaries Negative; Gantenerumab OLE Hints at Efficacy Can BACE Inhibitors Stage a Comeback? High-Res Spatial Transcriptomics Offers New Views of Mouse Brain Alzheimer's Blood Tests Have Arrived; Road to Broad Use Still Stretches On Bloo
Three drugs, targeting three different pathogenic mechanisms in Alzheimer's, dementia with Lewy bodies, and ALS, had trial data formally published this week.
The DIAN Trials Unit is nearing the end of its first two secondary prevention trials. It has begun a cognitive run-in period for its next trial, of a tau-based drug, and for a primary prevention study in people as young as 18.