Alzheimer's disease tagged posts

Helping your mother make pancakes when you were three…riding your bike without training wheels…your first romantic kiss: How do we retain vivid memories of long-ago events? As described in a paper published in Neuron, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found the explanation.

“The ability to learn new information and store it for long periods is one of the brain’s most remarkable features,” said Robert H. Singer, Ph.D., a co-corresponding author of the paper. “We’ve made a startling discovery in mice regarding the molecular basis for making those long-term memories.” Dr. Singer is professor of cell biology and in the Dominick P...

Findings, based on an analysis of 575 study participants, support the hypothesis that infections may negatively affect brain health. A new study from a team led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that signs of common infections in a sample of middle-aged and older adults were associated with poorer performance on a test of global cognitive function.

The results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that infections in mid- and late-life can worsen cognitive performance and may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

For their analysis, the researchers examined antibody levels to five common pathogens in 575 adults, ages 41 to 97...

An evolutionary human foraging instinct, fueled by fructose production in the brain, may hold clues to the development and possible treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

The study, published recently in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, offers a new way of looking at a fatal disease characterized by abnormal accumulations of proteins in the brain that slowly erode memory and cognition.

“We make the case that Alzheimer’s disease is driven by diet,” said the study’s lead author Richard Johnson, MD, professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine specializing in renal disease and hypertension...

A Cup of ruby red hibiscus tea not only warms the body in winter but also is known to boost the immune system, control blood pressure, and reduce body weight. And here is yet another reason to enjoy this tea – It may defeat Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Kyong-Tai Kim and PhD candidate Kyung Won Jo (Department of Life Sciences) at POSTECH has verified that the gossypetin found in hibiscus activates microglia, the resident immune cell in the brain. The research team also demonstrated that microglia scavenge amyloid-beta (Aβ) in the brain to ameliorate cognitive impairments brought on by Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

AD begins as Aβ and Tau protein aggregates form deposits in the brain tissue. Microglia internalize such aggregates (phagocytosis) to protect the brain...