Alzheimer

Peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity reveals early and multifactorial white matter injury across sporadic and Down syndrome–associated Alzheimer’s disease

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White matter alterations are commonly observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and reflect a convergence of several pathological processes, including myelin loss, axonal degeneration, and microvascular injury. Peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity (PSMD) is a diffusion MRI–derived metric of diffuse white matter injury that has demonstrated high sensitivity to microstructural damage. However, the timing of … Read more

New reference values for cognitive normality allow earlier detection in one of every five cases of mild cognitive impairment

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The first step in the diagnostic workup of individuals presenting with cognitive symptoms is to determine whether there is objective cognitive impairment. Ideally, this is done through a neuropsychological evaluation: a battery of cognitive tests in which the patient’s performance is interpreted as normal or abnormal as compared to reference values. These reference values are … Read more

On the complexity of biomarker-driven diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease

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New biomarker-centric diagnostic frameworks for Alzheimer’s disease promise earlier detection but risk over-medicalising people who may never decline. Grasso, Santos-Santos and Clark contend that amyloid-β or phosphorylated-tau positivity in cognitively normal adults should be treated as an _elevated risk_ rather than a definitive diagnosis, and they show why cognitive reserve, sociocultural context and structural inequities … Read more

Brain Metabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease Associated with Down Syndrome: New Findings with FDG-PET

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Regional Brain Metabolism across the Alzheimer's Disease Continuum in Down Syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Due to the overexpression of the APP gene on chromosome 21, nearly all individuals with DS develop AD-related pathological changes and dementia secondary to this disease. Brain metabolism, measured using fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ([¹⁸F]FDG-PET), is considered a biomarker of AD-related neurodegeneration. This recent … Read more

Enhanced Resolution to Study Synaptic Tau Pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease

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Enhanced Resolution to Study Synaptic Tau Pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease

Our recent study shows that combining Array Tomography with an advanced imaging technique called Two-Colour Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (dSTORM) allows for the observation of tau pathology at synapses with unprecedented detail. This approach offers new insights into how these proteins disrupt brain function in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). What Was Done in This Study? … Read more

Awarded with the SEN 2023 Prizes

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Dr. Juan Fortea Ormaechea, director of the Memory Unit at Sant Pau Hospital, has been awarded the Scientific Modality Prize in the Alzheimer’s category during the Institutional Act of the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN), held on June 6, 2024, at the Fonseca College of Santiago de Compostela. This prestigious recognition underscores Dr. Fortea’s world-class … Read more