A worldwide clinical trial aimed at finding treatments for Alzheimer’s disease has expanded to include investigational drugs targeting a harmful form of the brain protein tau. The trial, known as the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU) and led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, launched in 2012 as the first […]
Rainwater Charitable Foundation Announces Second-Annual Rainwater Prize Winners for Brain Research (Links to an external site)
FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, one of the largest independent funders of neurodegenerative disease research, today announced Dr. David M. Holtzman (the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and Chair of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis) and Dr. Celeste Karch (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, […]
Protein linked to Alzheimer’s, strokes cleared from brain blood vessels (Links to an external site)
As people age, a normal brain protein known as amyloid beta often starts to collect into harmful amyloid plaques in the brain. Such plaques can be the first step on the path to Alzheimer’s dementia. When they form around blood vessels in the brain, a condition known as cerebral amyloid angiopathy, the plaques also raise […]
Fauci to discuss COVID-19 during online med school event Jan. 7 (Links to an external site)
Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will give the Gerald Medoff Visiting Professor lecture at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis on Thursday, Jan. 7. The session will be delivered online.
Protein involved in removing Alzheimer’s buildup linked to circadian rhythm (Links to an external site)
Fractured sleep, daytime sleepiness and other signs of disturbance in one’s circadian rhythm are common complaints of people with Alzheimer’s disease, and the problems only get worse as the disease progresses. But the reason for the link between Alzheimer’s and circadian dysfunction is not well understood.
Construction progresses on neuroscience research building (Links to an external site)
Washington University School of Medicine’s eastern border began noticeably changing in April and will look strikingly different in 2023, when the neuroscience research building — 11 stories tall and 609,000 square feet — is complete. The building project, the largest in the medical school’s history, will span almost a block in the 200-acre Cortex Innovation […]
Why doesn’t deep-brain stimulation work for everyone? (Links to an external site)
People with severe Parkinson’s disease or other neurological conditions that cause intractable symptoms such as uncontrollable shaking, muscle spasms, seizures, obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors are sometimes treated with electric stimulators placed inside the brain. Such stimulators are designed to interrupt aberrant signaling that causes the debilitating symptoms. The therapy, deep-brain stimulation, can provide relief […]
Alzheimer’s researchers receive Chan Zuckerberg Initiative funding (Links to an external site)
A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has been funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to study the root causes of neurodegenerative disorders.
A Rare Variant of APOE Delays Alzheimer’s Disease Onset By Decades<br>Now the Field Is Focused on Learning How (Links to an external site)
A woman with a rare variant of APOE and familial Alzheimer’s disease (AD) had delayed development of AD by nearly 30 years. Independent researchers said the report is changing the thinking and focus of research about the biology of APOE in AD.
Microglia Deletion Protects Against Tau Pathology in Alzheimer’s Mice (Links to an external site)
Microglia are the driving force of neurodegeneration in a tauopathy mouse model, a new animal study found. The authors of the report suggest microglia may be an effective therapeutic target for preventing disease progression in the setting of tauopathy.