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How sensory gamma rhythm stimulation clears amyloid in Alzheimer’s mice
Stimulating a key brain rhythm with light and sound increases peptide release from interneurons, driving clearance of Alzheimer’s protein via the brain’s glymphatic system, new study suggests. Studies at MIT and elsewhere are producing mounting evidence that light flickering and sound clicking at the gamma brain rhythm frequency of 40 Hz can reduce Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression…
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Evidence early, but emerging, that gamma rhythm stimulation can treat neurological disorders
A new review surveys a broadening landscape of studies showing what’s known, and what remains to be found, about the therapeutic potential of non-invasive sensory, electrical or magnetic stimulation of gamma brain rhythms. A surprising MIT study published in Nature at the end of 2016 helped to spur interest in the possibility that light flickering at the frequency of…
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Nanoparticle-delivered RNA reduces neuroinflammation in lab tests
In mice and human cell cultures, MIT researchers showed that novel nanoparticles can deliver a potential therapy for inflammation in the brain, a prominent symptom in Alzheimer’s disease Some Covid-19 vaccines safely and effectively used lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to deliver messenger RNA to cells. A new MIT study shows that different nanoparticles could be used for a…
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How a mutation in microglia elevates Alzheimer’s risk
A new MIT study finds that microglia with mutant TREM2 protein reduce brain circuit connections, promote inflammation and contribute to Alzheimer’s pathology in other ways A rare but potent genetic mutation that alters a protein in the brain’s immune cells, known as microglia, can give people as much as a three-fold greater risk of developing…
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Decoding the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease
By analyzing epigenomic and gene expression changes that occur in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers identify cellular pathways that could become new drug targets Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 6 million people in the United States, and there are very few FDA-approved treatments that can slow the progression of the disease. In hopes of discovering new targets…
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Molecule reduces inflammation in Alzheimer’s models
A potential new Alzheimer’s drug represses the harmful inflammatory response of the brain’s immune cells, reducing disease pathology, preserving neurons and improving cognition in preclinical tests Though drug developers have achieved some progress in treating Alzheimer’s disease with medicines that reduce amyloid-beta protein, other problems of the disease including inflammation, continue unchecked. In a new…
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40 Hz vibrations reduce Alzheimer’s pathology, symptoms in mouse models
Tactile stimulation improved motor performance, reduced phosphorylated tau, preserved neurons and synapses and reduced DNA damage, a new study shows Evidence that non-invasive sensory stimulation of 40 Hz gamma frequency brain rhythms can reduce Alzheimer’s disease pathology and symptoms, already shown with light and sound by multiple research groups in mice and humans, now extends…
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Neuroscientists identify cells especially vulnerable to Alzheimer’s
Neurons that form part of a memory circuit are among the first brain cells to show signs of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurodegeneration, or the gradual loss of neuron function, is one of the key features of Alzheimer’s disease. However, it doesn’t affect all parts of the brain equally. One of the first brain regions…
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A new peptide may hold potential as an Alzheimer’s treatment
The peptide blocks a hyperactive brain enzyme that contributes to the neurodegeneration seen in Alzheimer’s and other diseases MIT neuroscientists have found a way to reverse neurodegeneration and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease by interfering with an enzyme that is typically overactive in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. When the researchers treated mice with a…
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New technologies revealing cross-cutting breakdowns in Alzheimer’s disease
‘Single-cell profiling’ is helping neuroscientists see how disease affects major brain cell types and identify common, potentially targetable pathways After decades of fundamental scientific and drug discovery research, Alzheimer’s disease has remained inscrutable and incurable, with a bare minimum of therapeutic progress. But in a new review article in Nature Neuroscience, MIT scientists write that by employing…