Do you associate technology with youth? Picture this woman doing an automated telephone assessment and think again. Modern gadgets stand poised to transform dementia research and care. Researchers are harnessing the power of computers, digital cameras, an
With the holidays upon us, are your nerves fraying under the combined pressures of work deadlines, shopping, decorating, and entertaining? Now may be a good time to sit back and consider the effects of stress on the brain. Stress per se is not a cause of
Last year's ice bucket challenge for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis netted $220 million in donations for ALS charities, and the 2015 challenge is off to a strong start with $100,000 from Major League Baseball. Alzforum looks at how all that money is b
A $40 million multicenter biomarker study for Parkinson disease progression is off and running, with enrollment underway at 10 of 18 sites in the U.S. and Europe. In design and operation, the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) follow
When the first human genome sequence was finished in 2003, it quickly became clear that its seemingly unending stream of letters was not enough to comprehend what makes people tick. All the moving parts that bring the DNA code to life needed to be underst
The rarest kind of Alzheimer's disease, the form that is inherited from parent to child with a cruel 50 percent likelihood, has long been marked by its untapped opportunities. Affected families have made possible both the discovery of the first three
In the absence of truly effective treatments, and in the presence of a rapidly growing, dementia-prone population of elders, it's perhaps no surprise that people are increasingly open to products claiming even the slightest hint of promise, however u
Have neuroscientists entered the era of the programmable brain? Thanks to optogenetics and pharmacogenetics, which let scientists switch neuronal activity on or off with light or designer drugs, scientists can now control specific subtypes of neurons in r
Online training for use of Amyvid, the first FDA-approved Aβ imaging ligand, is now up and running,even as a task force convened by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and the Alzheimer's Association scrambles to formulate some expert guidelines on how a
Move over, genome, transcriptome, proteome. The latest ome aims to map every metabolite linked to human health and disease. Metabolomics, although still a nascent field, offers hope for biomarkers and treatments in neurodegenerative disease. The field
A contentious hypothesis about where and how Parkinson’s disease starts off is gaining ground as new studies provide clues in its support. Neuroanatomists Heiko Braak and Kelly Del Tredici, both at the University of Ulm in Germany, have described the dist
The endocytic receptor SORL1 has come to fruition both literally and figuratively. An interactive diagram of the 2,214 amino acid behemoth—filled with findings about hundreds of rare variants—is live for viewing on the Alzforum Mutations database. A handf
Two weeks after the FDA gave the nod to aducanumab, the aftershocks continue to reverberate. Critics are lambasting the agency, three members of its advisory committee resigned, and the drug’s cost has ignited calls for pricing reform. Meanwhile, Alzheime