Alzheimer’s disease & dementia

Investigators in the Yale Department of Psychiatry demonstrated that females and males report different information regarding the family history of Alzheimer’s disease. In particular, the scientists observed that socioeconomic factors and cognitive abilities contribute to altering the assessment of family history of Alzheimer’s disease in large-scale studies.

Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC have developed a blood test that can identify early signs of Alzheimer’s disease by measuring proteins linked to the condition. The new test, known as Penta-Plex Alzheimer’s Disease Capture Sandwich Immunoassay (5ADCSI), detects five biomarkers simultaneously, which is more than existing blood tests and runs on equipment commonly used in many laboratories.

A new USC-led study has uncovered a significant link between type 2 diabetes mellitus and cortical thickness in older adults from various populations.

In Brazil, researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and collaborators from the University of São Paulo (USP) have discovered that a molecule called Hevin can reverse cognitive impairment. The study, conducted in mice, showed that this glycoprotein produced by brain cells (astrocytes) is able to increase the connections between neurons (synapses) in aged rodents and in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease.

Difficulty finding words or the habit of substituting them with others that are similar semantically—such as knife and cutter—or phonologically—such as knife and wife—are usually the first symptoms of a type of dementia known as primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Another sign is a subtle difficulty in forming sentences, evidenced by verbal and nominal agreement errors that have never been made before, or reversal of word order, for example.

Having a larger waistline, high blood pressure and other risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of young-onset dementia, according to a study published in Neurology.

University of New Mexico Health Sciences researchers hope to launch human clinical trials in their quest for a vaccine to prevent the buildup of pathological tau—a protein in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s dementia.

A new way to deliver disease-fighting proteins throughout the brain may improve the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders, according to University of California, Irvine scientists. By engineering human immune cells called microglia, the researchers have created living cellular “couriers” capable of responding to brain pathology and releasing therapeutic agents exactly where needed.

A team of researchers from the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science found that women who entered menopause before the age of 40 had worse cognitive outcomes than women who entered menopause after the age of 50. This finding may be useful for clinicians when assessing their patient’s risk of developing dementia. These findings were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia on April 15, 2025.

An innovative Edith Cowan University (ECU) research project is using the power of music and storytelling to support the well-being of older Italian migrants, including those living with dementia.