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Findings from a recent study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease revealed that chemical alterations in brain cells triggered by disruptions in the body’s day-night cycle may be an underlying cause of the memory and learning loss observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study, conducted by University of California researchers,…

U.K. researchers, headed by the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, have found that donepezil administered during the later stages of Alzheimer’s might temporarily decrease the likelihood that someone will need to move into a nursing home. The study report, entitled “Nursing home placement in the Donepezil and…

Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have published a new study describing how neurofibrillary tangles — one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease — develop. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by a progressive degeneration of specific brain regions, starting with those areas involved in memory. Two proteins are found at…

In a new study entitled “Rescue of long-range circuit dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease models,” researchers discovered why Alzheimer’s disease patients experience sleep disturbances and discovered potential therapeutics to counteract this effect. The team observed that improving sleep in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease also benefits their memory performance. The…

Researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center developed a novel strategy to extract large quantities of brain protein from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues in patients with Alzheimer’s, an advancement that may lead to a new understanding of brain protein changes found in the disease. The study entitled “Proteomic…

A research team attempting to identify new biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease has found that young subjects at high genetic risk of Alzheimer’s development — while moving through a virtual maze — showed lower brain cell activity involved in spatial navigation than a control group, revealing differences in the brain decades before possible disease onset. The…

A study published in Cell Stem Cell journal entitled “Small Molecules Efficiently Reprogram Human Astroglial Cells into Functional Neurons” showed that treatment of astroglial cells with a cocktail of nine small molecules resulted in neuron-like cells with similar electrical and neurotransmitter activities as functional…

Researchers at the Thomas Jefferson University have found a new protein involved in synaptic pathways with important implications in Alzheimer’s disease. The research paper, entitled “Anchoring and synaptic stability of PSD-95 is driven by ephrin-B3,” was published in Nature Neuroscience. Synapses are electrical or chemical signals between…

A study published in Stem Cell Reports, entitled “Neural Stem Cells Rescue Cognitive and Motor Dysfunction in a Transgenic Model of Dementia with Lewy Bodies through a BDNF-Dependent Mechanism,” reports that neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation into mice suffering from dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) significantly improved…

Researchers from the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine have reported the ongoing development of a blood test for early Alzheimer’s’ disease diagnostic. The preliminary data was presented during the recent Osteopathic Medical Conference & Exposition (OMED 15) in Orlando, Florida. The innovative blood test relies on the detection of autoantibodies as blood biomarkers of…