Topic: Alzheimer's

Coregraph is a tool under development that allows us to collect high-density data patterns during the administration of classic neuropsychological tests such as the Trail Making Test and Clock Drawing Test. These tests are widely used to evaluate cognitive function and screen for neurodegenerative disorders, but traditional methods of data collection only yield sparse information, such as test completion time or error types. By contrast, the high-density data collected with Coregraph may contribute to a better understanding of the cognitive processes involved in executing these tests. In addit

This webinar will demonstrate changes that are already happening at individual, institutional and funder level to shift research culture toward supporting credible research, and will allow attendees working in neuroscience to ask further questions to our speakers. Our panel of speakers, chaired by Ana Dorrego-Rivas: Emily Farran, Professor in Developmental Psychology and Academic Lead Research Culture and Integrity at the University of Surrey Rosa Sancho, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK Sepideh Keshavarzi, Senior Research Fellow at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre

The development of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and their subsequent differentiation into neurons has provided new opportunities for the generation of physiologically-relevant, in vitro disease models. I will present our work using iPSC to modal familial Alzheimer's Disease (fAD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). We have investigated the mutation-specific effects of APP and PSEN1 mutations on Abeta generation in neurons generated from individuals with fAD, revealing distinct mechanisms that may contribute to clinical heterogeneity in disease. I will also discuss our work to und

The US has an aging population. For the first time in US history, the number of older adults is projected to outnumber that of children by 2034. This combined with the fact that the prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease increases exponentially with age makes for a worrying combination. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate stage of cognitive decline between being cognitively normal and having full-blown Dementia, with every third person with MCI progressing to dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT). While there is no known way to reverse symptoms once they begin, early prediction of d

In the United States, racial/ethnic inequalities in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias persist even after controlling for socioeconomic factors and physical health. These persistent and unexplained disparities suggest: (1) there are unrecognized dementia risk factors that are socially patterned and/or (2) known dementia risk factors exhibit differential impact across social groups. Pursuing these research directions with data from multiple longitudinal studies of brain and cognitive aging has revealed several challenges to the study of late-life health inequalities, highlighted evidence

The nuclear envelope is a lipid bilayer that encases the genome and provides a physical boundary between the cytoplasm and the nucleoplasm. While the nucleus is typically depicted as a sphere encircled by a smooth surface of nuclear envelope, the smooth exterior can be interrupted by tubular invaginations of the nuclear envelope into the deep nuclear interior. Such structures are termed the "nucleoplasmic reticulum." Increased frequency of nuclear envelope invagination occurs in disease states including various cancers, viral infections, and laminopathies, a group of heterogeneous disorders th

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, and its health and socioeconomic burdens are of major concern. Presently, a definite diagnosis of AD is established by examining brain tissue after death. These examinations focus on two major pathological hallmarks of AD in the brain: (i) amyloid plaques consisting of aggregated amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides and (ii) neurofibrillary tangles made of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein. In living individuals, AD diagnosis relies on two main approaches: (i) brain imaging of tau tangles and Aβ plaques using a technique called positron