For the first time, researchers have used human data to quantify the speed of different processes that lead to Alzheimer’s disease and found that it develops in a very different way than previously thought. Their results could have important implications for the development of potential treatments.

The international team, led by the University of Cambridge, found that instead of starting from a single point in the brain and initiating a chain reaction that leads to the death of brain cells, Alzheimer’s disease reaches different regions of the brain early. How quickly the disease kills cells in these regions, through the production of toxic protein clusters, limits how quickly the disease progresses overall.

The researchers used post-mortem brain samples from Alzheimer’s patients, as well as PET scans from living patients, who ranged from those with mild cognitive impairment to those with late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, to track the aggregation of tau, one of two key proteins implicated in the condition.

𝙈𝙍𝙄 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙐𝙡𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙎𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙-𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙧

𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 t𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝-𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧.

A new way to usher treatments through the protective blood-brain barrier.