Topic description and stories

Conceptual image showing blurred brain with loss of neuronal networks

Scientists reveal plan to target the cause of Alzheimer’s disease

24 Sep 2018

Researchers have developed a new way to target the toxic particles that destroy healthy brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease.

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Brain cholesterol associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease

07 May 2018

Researchers have shown how cholesterol – a molecule normally linked with cardiovascular diseases – may also play an important role in the onset and...

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Nerve cells

Mechanism behind neuron death in motor neurone disease and frontotemporal dementia discovered

20 Apr 2018

Scientists have identified the molecular mechanism that leads to the death of neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or motor...

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Alzheimer's patients & carers

Advances in brain imaging settle debate over spread of key protein in Alzheimer’s

05 Jan 2018

Recent advances in brain imaging have enabled scientists to show for the first time that a key protein which causes nerve cell death spreads...

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Darwin Lecture Series

Genetics study adds further evidence that education reduces risk of Alzheimer’s disease

07 Dec 2017

The theory that education protects against Alzheimer’s disease has been given further weight by new research from the University of Cambridge, funded...

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Screenshot of Game Show

‘Brain training’ app found to improve memory in people with mild cognitive impairment

03 Jul 2017

A ‘brain training’ game developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge could help improve the memory of patients in the very earliest stages...

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Brain showing hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (plaques in blue)

Computer-designed antibodies target toxins associated with Alzheimer’s disease

22 Jun 2017

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have designed antibodies that target the protein deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease...

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Scientists discover two repurposed drugs that arrest neurodegeneration in mice

20 Apr 2017

A team of scientists who a few years ago identified a major pathway that leads to brain cell death in mice, have now found two drugs that block the...

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Cambridge named as a centre for the UK Dementia Research Institute

20 Apr 2017

The University of Cambridge has been announced as one of the centres that will form the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) alongside Cardiff...

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Hands

Public attitudes towards end-of-life care in progressive neurological illness are conflicted, study reveals

05 Apr 2017

Public attitudes in UK and USA reveal support both for life-sustaining interventions and for measures to enable peaceful death in progressive...

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Dementia: Catching the memory thief

21 Sep 2016

It's over a hundred years since the first case of Alzheimer’s disease was diagnosed. Since then we’ve learned a great deal about the protein ‘tangles...

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In healthy tissues, a gene expression signature associated with amyloid-beta and tau aggregation echoes the progression of AD well before the onset of the disease.

Gene signature in healthy brains pinpoints the origins of Alzheimer’s disease

10 Aug 2016

A specific gene expression pattern maps out which parts of the brain are most vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease, decades before symptoms appear, and...

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