Alzheimer’s disease

MRI brain scans at baseline for study participants 60 and older — who were free of clinical dementia at study entry — predicted a decline in independent function five years later.

Vanderbilt researchers used novel MRI methods to noninvasively quantify measures of neurofluid circulation and found that hypertrophy of a site of cerebrospinal fluid egress may be related to amyloid-beta retention in Alzheimer’s disease.

A machine learning method based on neural networks outperformed a mutational scanning model at identifying disease-causing mutations in an Alzheimer’s disease protein, suggesting the method could be useful for facilitating therapeutic design.

Vanderbilt researchers found that a protein with roles in innate immunity worsens memory at baseline in carriers of APOE-e4, the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, further implicating neuroinflammation in cognitive decline.

Fewer Black, Hispanic and Asian patients meet biomarker qualifications for landmark treatments that may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by targeting amyloid plaques, according to new findings published in JAMA Neurology.

Herbert Christopher, a grateful Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery patient who received cochlear hearing implants from David Haynes, MD, has funded the training of otolaryngology fellows and leaders in Alzheimer’s disease care through several outright endowed gifts and additional gift planning with his estate.

The Today Show’s Maria Shriver spotlighted a landmark, years-long study into the connection between heart health and Alzheimer’s disease, and the urgency to boost study enrollment—particularly among people of color who are disproportionally impacted yet historically underrepresented in research.