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California-based researchers from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging created a method capable of screening substances that might be effective in age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease — with the help of roundworms. The new tool, presented at the Allied Genetics Conference in Orlando, Florida, on July 15,…

Scientists have developed a novel form of vaccine targeting the two main proteins triggering Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid-beta and tau protein. Researchers and physicians have seen an increase in Alzheimer’s disease, with more than 7.5 million new cases diagnosed worldwide per year. There is an urgent but still unmet need for a vaccine and…

Muses Labs and Metabolon announced they have entered into a partnership to assess the application of metabolomics in people with early symptoms of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Metabolomics measures changes in levels of metabolites (small molecules) and maps them to specific biochemical pathways to give clinicians a…

Ever since Dr. Bennet Omalu, who Will Smith portrayed in the movie “Concussion,” released his 2005 study — based on autopsy results from a former professional football player — that revealed “neuropathological changes consistent with long-term repetitive concussive brain injury,” the future cognitive impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has…

A new immunotherapy targeting apolipoprotein E4 (apoE4), a genetic variant of apolipoprotein E that increases the risk of early onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD), may be a potential therapeutic approach for a good number of patients with the disease, according to researchers at Tel Aviv University, Israel. Researchers, working with mouse models, found that blocking…

A single oral dose of methylene blue is able to increase the response of brain regions that control attention and short-term memory, according to University of Texas Health Science Center researchers. Methylene blue has proven useful as a surgical stain to guide procedures and in the treatment of methemoglobinemia, a blood disorder…

A simple number naming test can identify those with cognitive impairment among elderly individuals, clearly differentiating patients with dementia and people with mild cognitive impairment from cognitively healthy people. The study, “Screening Utility of the King-Devick Test in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer Disease Dementia,” published in…

Amyloid-β plaques accumulating in the brain alone are not enough to cause the dementia that characterizes Alzheimer’s, new research from Johns Hopkins University argues. Instead, a second blow — molecular pathways that ultimately cause tau proteins to form tangles inside nerve cells — is also needed for neurons to degenerate. The study, “The…

Chocolate consumption may protect older people from cognitive decline, possibly preventing the development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to Portuguese researchers at the Institute of Molecular Medicine. However, researchers cautioned this is only true for people who drink an average of less than one espresso per day. The study, “Chocolate…

A study at the Indiana University Center for Aging Research, exploring how screening seemingly healthy older people for dementia impacts family members, has been awarded a $126,000 grant by the National Institute on Aging. The study, called “Effects on Families of older adults Experiencing Cognitive…