Author Archives: Ana Pamplona, PhD

A Keck School of Medicine of USC study shows that cognitive tests can detect early Alzheimer’s disease in  older adults who do not present symptoms yet. The study “Detectable Neuropsychological Differences in Early Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease: A Meta-Analysis” was published in the journal Neuropsychology Review. It is…

During the  8th International Conference on Clinical Trials for Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) held in Barcelona, Spain, data from the MAPT study of older adults with memory lapses was presented. This study suggested that the combination of a multi-domain nutritional and stimulation intervention plus an omega-3 fatty acid supplementation slows…

A recent study revealed that heart function is an important risk factor in the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The study entitled “Low Cardiac Index is Associated with Incident Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: The Framingham Heart Study” was published in Circulation by…

 A new study established a Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE) as a screening tool for mental decline, as observed in neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. This study entitled “Community Cognitive Screening Using the Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE)” was published in The Journal of…

A new, sensitive molecular magnetic resonance imaging contrast probe was recently developed by a team of researchers from Northwestern University. The study, entitled “Towards non-invasive diagnostic imaging of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease” was published in Nature Nanotechnology by Kirsten L. Viola, first author of the study, and led…

A new study on Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Corticobasal Syndrome (CBS) entitled “Differentiating between visual hallucination-free dementia with Lewy bodies and corticobasal syndrome on the basis of neuropsychology and perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography” was published in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy by Michael R Misch, part…

Eli Lilly and Company and AstraZeneca announced the start of recruitment of patients for the Phase II/III AMARANTH clinical trial of an inhibitor of beta secretes cleaving enzyme (BACE), currently under development as a promising therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by two important pathological features —…

Researchers have recently discovered a specific network of regions in the brain that are more susceptible to degenerative diseases and brain disorders like schizophrenia. The study, entitled “A common brain network links development, aging, and vulnerability to disease” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal by…

A novel study on the association between herpes simplex virus and Alzheimer’s disease, entitled “Herpes simplex infection and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease-A nested case-control study,” was recently published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia by Prof. Hugo Lövheim, from the Department of Community Medicine…

A recent study revealed the mechanism to restore the capability of neurons to form new synapses, entitled, “Blocking PirB up-regulates spines and functional synapses to unlock visual cortical plasticity and facilitate recovery from amblyopia,” which was published in Science Translational Medicine by David Bochner and Richard…