senile plaques

People with a known, high risk for Alzheimer’s disease develop abnormal brain function even before the appearance of telltale, amyloid plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings suggest that a gene variant affects brain function long before the brain begins accumulating the amyloid that will eventually lead to dementia. 

An international team of Alzheimer’s disease experts, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has uncovered a gene variation that appears to predict the rate at which Alzheimer’s disease will progress. Whereas previous studies have focused on factors that influence the risk for developing Alzheimer’s, the new research points to a way to determine how rapidly the disease will progress.