Alzheimer’s: Scientists identify brain region where disease begins

A research team from the University of Coimbra in Portugal has made a discovery that allows the development of treatments aimed at reducing neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This therapy can be made possible by: brain region called posterior cingulate, It has been described by scientists as the place where the first signs of neurodegenerative disease appear.

According to the study, it is in the posterior cingulate that three characteristic symptoms of the first stage of AD occur: neuroinflammation, accumulation of amyloid proteins in the brain and compensatory neuronal activity supposedly trying to balance the deficit presented in another region.

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By clearly identifying an early changing brain target, the authors say the research paves the way for possible proactive treatment of the disease. However, the team’s coordinator, Miguel Castelo-Branco, explains, “The identified region is critical as it acts as a pivot in the short- and long-term memory processes that we know are critically affected in Alzheimer’s disease.”

How did scientists prove that AD begins in the cingular cortex?

To prove their theory, the researchers worked with a population of 19 patients in the very early stages of AD and a control group of 19 with the same sociodemographic characteristics but no evidence of cognitive impairment or other related pathologies.

The study used “a set of advanced functional and neuroimaging techniques,” including “double PET”, a tomography that “measures neuroinflammation and amyloid deposition in the same patient,” and magnetic resonance techniques. function (fMRI) “to measure brain activity in memory tasks”.

Tests showed that microglia activationA cell that attacks inflammatory agents is formed by increased brain activity especially in people in the early stages of the disease.

ARTICLE Communication Biology – DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03761-7.