The variant causes a buildup of BACE1 protein in axons in cultured neurons and mice. Researchers say it might be time to rethink failed trials that inhibit BACE1 to treat the neurodegenerative disease.

The test will be a cheaper and more accessible alternative to currently available diagnostic tools, researchers say.

An imaging agent reveals aggregated tau protein in the brain during PET scans and could improve the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly tauopathies.

Surviving Stress: The mysteries of neuronal survival and neurodegeneration

These “coarse-grained” plaques resemble those that clog up the brain’s blood vessels in a different disease, pointing to links between the vascular system and the neurodegenerative disease.

After six months, patients with fast-progressing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who had received the experimental treatment had less loss of function than those who received a placebo.

The Salk professor developed the institute’s first neurobiology lab and used it to develop cell lines, describe amyloid β toxicity, and screen for compounds that protect against neurodegeneration.

New studies show that elevated levels of a form of tau called p-tau217 can accurately distinguish Alzheimer’s disease from other forms of dementia, and perhaps even predict it.

The authors propose that the shots might keep the immune system primed to battle diseases that would otherwise contribute to cognitive decline.