CONFERENCE COVERAGE SERIES
Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2015
Washington, D.C.
18 – 23 July 2015
This year's Alzheimer's Association International Conference drew 4,000 attendees to Washington, D.C., where they soaked up everything from advances in human imaging and diagnostics to the latest clinical trial results. While the latter brought no surprises, scientists shared plenty of interesting preclinical data as well, among them a massive combination trial of two anti-Aβ therapies and research that shows that aerobic exercise preserves cognitive function even in people who are already impaired.
Massive Mouse Study Bolsters Rationale for Combination Therapy
Dose permutations point to synergistic effects on Aβ and amyloid plaques.
TREM2 Tidbits at AAIC: Genetics, Clinical Data
Probing this this Alzheimer’s risk factor, scientists find a novel variant, but no consensus yet on how this cell surface receptor increases risk for disease.
New Data on Autosomal-Dominant Alzheimer’s Point to Early Fissures in the Brain’s Microarchitecture
Tiny injuries to capillaries in white matter, and to cells in gray matter, have come to be the focus of new imaging measures being explored in early presymptomatic AD.
Aducanumab, Solanezumab, Gantenerumab Data Lift Crenezumab, As Well
At AAIC, new data on three anti-Aβ antibodies reinforced a sense of hope that Aβ immunotherapy may yet work out. Challenges with each antibody notwithstanding, all four leading candidates, including crenezumab, are now in Phase 3.
Exercise Boosts Cognition In Symptomatic Disease
At the right intensity and treatment duration, aerobic exercise can sharpen thinking skills and improve brain function even in cognitively impaired people, say researchers.
Can Exercise Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Pathology?
Researchers report multiple benefits of aerobic exercise on brain function, including some hints it could slow tau pathology.
New Imaging Data Tells Story of Travelling Tau
Scientists are coming to grips with how tau spreads, and what the consequences are for the brain.
CSF Aβ Assays Remain Fickle: Robots to the Rescue?
Variability still plagues CSF biomarker measurements, but automated systems offer hope of a diagnostic assay.
Does Brain Development in Childhood Set the Stage for Dementia?
Research uncovers subtle links between early development problems and some forms of dementia.
At AAIC, Researchers Debate Neurogranin's Measure as a Marker
The synaptic protein abounds in the cerebrospinal fluid of AD patients and in those in the prodromal phase of the disease.
How Do You Communicate Alzheimer’s Risk in the Age of Prevention?
Prevention trials are testing new protocols for telling potential participants about their heightened risk for dementia, and exploring the psychological effect of such disclosures.
Testing a New Model for Disclosure of ApoE4 Status
The largest trial yet of ApoE4 carriers is pioneering new protocols with increasing use of technology to reach thousands of potential participants and disclose risk information.
Amyloid Scans in the Clinic: Seeing Is Believing?
Scanning for amyloid plaques in the brain may help clinicians diagnose and manage patients with a questionable diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
Estrogen Therapy Could Hold Back Alzheimer’s, Shrink the Brain?
At AAIC, researchers reported that estrogen may decrease dementia risk if given to healthy women during early menopause.
Suspected Non-Alzheimer Pathophysiology: It’s Not Exactly a Snap
Scientists struggle to understand neurodegeneration in the SNAP syndrome.