The Atlantic - April 11, 2019. Kim Green, a neurobiologist at UC Irvine, notes mutant mice lacking microglia have broadly similar patterns of disorganization in their brains. These mice models essentially predicted what would happen in the human. He had just never expected to see a person without microglia. “It’s absolutely remarkable,” he says.
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Contributed by S. Ahmad Sajjadi, MD, PhD, Neurologist Last week, the results of a very important and highly anticipated study, the IDEAS (Imaging Dementia – Evidence For Amyloid Scanning) study, were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This national multi-center study, including UC Irvine, enrolled more than 11,000 Medicare beneficiaries with cognitive impairment to undergo a special type of scan called amyloid positron emission tomography (PET). Amyloid PET scan provides the opportunity to visualize the accumulation of abnormal amyloid plaques on the brain. Amyloid and tau proteins are the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study…
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AARP - April 10, 2019. “A common situation is an older adult becoming concerned about their memory and taking a supplement to try to ward off dementia,” says Joshua Grill, director of the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders at the University of California, Irvine. “But in reality, if they saw their doctor, they might find out that another medical condition such as hypothyroidism, or a certain prescription medication, is causing symptoms and can be easily treated. They're just making things worse.” And if you do have dementia, he adds, you could start a drug treatment to relieve symptoms,…
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Contributed by Christian Salazar, PhD, Project Scientist The link between gum disease and Alzheimer’s disease has received considerable attention over the past few years. The recent laboratory findings in mice from Potempa and colleagues are consistent with evidence from mostly cross-sectional observational studies in humans that suggest an association between the two diseases. However, as the article notes, we are still far from establishing a cause-and-effect relationship in humans. Not only is there difficulty in translating findings from mice to humans, but cross-sectional studies that collect data at one point in time can have many methodological limitations. For example, poor…
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Facebook Live Series - ASK THE DOC: Alzheimer's Research Today! This monthly series features short talks and Q&A with experts from the University of California, Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND), 1 of 32 congressionally designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers in the nation. Join UCI MIND on Facebook (@UCIrvineMIND) the first Friday of every month from 9:00-9:30 AM PST to learn about advances in research to improve Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Episode 3: "Is Alzheimer's an immune disorder?" This month, we're joined by Andrea Tenner, PhD. Dr. Tenner earned her PhD from UC San…
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Ira Lott, MD Did you know that people with Down syndrome are at significantly increased risk to develop Alzheimer's disease? UCI MIND researchers, like Ira Lott, MD, Eric Doran, MS, Elizabeth Head, PhD, and Jorge Busciglio, PhD aim to better understand this critical link to improve quality of life and bring us closer to improved treatments and prevention for all people impacted by Alzheimer’s disease. To learn more about the UCI MIND Down Syndrome Program, click here > To read a recent interview with Down Syndrome Program manager, Eric Doran, click here >. In this post, Eric discusses the creation…
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD, Director of UCI MIND The global research effort to find effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease has suffered another disappointing setback. Biogen announced today that the company will halt the parallel large Phase 3 trials of the monoclonal antibody against the amyloid beta protein, aducanumab. This treatment was viewed by many to hold tremendous promise. Early results were unprecedented. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease who were treated with aducanumab showed significant reduction in amyloid burden in the brain, which appeared to slow disease progression. The results were based on a small number of participants, however, and were not…
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People ages 50 and older who have memory problems are needed for a new clinical trial for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease at the University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Irvine. The NEAT study is a clinical trial sponsored by the University of California “Cures for Alzheimer’s Initiative,” testing whether nicotinamide, a component of vitamin B3, can slow Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, the 12-month study is investigating if a high daily dose of nicotinamide can affect the brain tangles associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The study also measures whether nicotinamide is effective in improving memory and other thinking…
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Facebook Live Series - ASK THE DOC: Alzheimer's Research Today! This monthly series features short talks and Q&A with experts from the University of California, Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND), 1 of 32 congressionally designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers in the nation. Join UCI MIND on Facebook (@UCIrvineMIND) the first Friday of every month from 9:00-9:30 AM PST to learn about advances in research to improve Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Episode 2: "What causes memory problems in older adults?" Dr. Ahmad Sajjadi is Assistant Professor of Neurology in the UCI School of Medicine.…
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Chelsea holding her father's hand at a psychiatric hospital, days before he passed away with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 61 In an interview with UCI undergraduate students, Chelsea Cox, Associate Director of Eduction for UCI MIND, shares her personal journey with Alzheimer's disease, her perspective on care and research, and how people - young and old - can get involved in the cause. "...No one should have to spend their final days that way. This experience is what motivated me to get involved in Alzheimer’s research and education. So that hopefully, one day, other people don’t have to…
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Robert K. Chin/Alamy On February 11, the FDA issued a statement and 12 warning letters related to an aggressive change in the agency’s regulation of dietary supplements. The statement was outlined in the New York Times. The main objective of the new approach is enhanced protection of consumers from mislabeled and unproven claims about treatment of disease. At the core of the problem are a number of companies that specifically target people with Alzheimer’s disease and people who are concerned about developing Alzheimer’s disease. A list of the companies receiving warning letters, as well as links to the letters, can…
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Facebook Live Series - ASK THE DOC: Alzheimer's Research Today! This monthly series features short talks and Q&A with experts from the University of California, Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND), 1 of 32 congressionally designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers in the nation. Join UCI MIND on Facebook (@UCIrvineMIND) the first Friday of every month from 9:00-9:30 AM PST to learn about advances in research to improve Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Episode 1: "Can poor sleep cause Alzheimer's?" Bryce Mander, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior at UCI. He received his…
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD, Director of UCI MIND Colleagues at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center published a timely critique in JAMA on a concerning and increasing practice in the United States. “Pseudomedicine” is a practice whereby qualified healthcare professionals prescribe supplements or other therapies that are not covered by insurance, and therefore require cash payments, for personal financial gain. Pseudomedicine is especially problematic among older patients and family members concerned about memory loss and desperate for effective therapies to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Other examples of pseudomedicine include recommendations for brain healthy diet plans…
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Washington Post article highlights need for Latino representation in Alzheimer's clinical studies Contributed by Christian Salazar, PhD, UCI MIND Associate Project Scientist Andres Martin lost his dad to a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s. He hopes a cure is found before his daughter, Alexis, grows up. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) A rare form of Alzheimer's disease, caused by a gene mutation first discovered among people living in Jalisco, Mexico, develops at much earlier age than typical cases of Alzheimer’s disease. Andres Martin, a 31-year old Marine, has this 'Jalisco mutation', and is committed to raising awareness that the fight…
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD, Director of UCI MIND In a new study, colleagues at the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University have found that levels of the cerebrospinal fluid protein tau, one of the hallmark pathologies in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is lower in African Americans compared to Whites. This was true both for older participants who did and did not have memory problems. The study is not the first to find such differences between African Americans and Caucasians and it has important implications to a number of important areas of AD research. First, there is a growing movement…
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This week Alzforum posted coverage from the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, including UCI MIND Director Dr. Joshua Grill's presentation of data from The A4 Study (Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease Study). In The A4 Study, a secondary prevention trial of late-onset Alzheimer's disease, people with elevated amyloid had higher levels of memory complaints than those without elevated amyloid. To read the full article, click here >
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Contributed by Joshua Grill, PhD This week’s 60 Minutes did an excellent job of illustrating, in 13 minutes, the 10-year progression of Alzheimer’s disease and its impact on patients and their caregivers. In addition to the unrelenting progression of the disease, the piece showed viewers the toll the disease takes on care providers, including the physical, financial, and emotional burdens. On average, the cost of caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to exceed $300,000 total. And caregivers are at increased risk for physical and mental ailments, resulting from the stress of their role and the fact that…
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Photo credit: Zack Wittman for The New York Times The New York Times recently covered a new clinical trial effort Eli Lilly is undertaking, the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ clinical research study. The study, which UCI MIND investigators are participating in, aims to enroll 375 people with early Alzheimer's disease. To learn more about the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ study, click here, or contact us at research@mind.uci.edu or call 949.824.0008.
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UCI MIND postdoctoral researcher Alessandra Martini presents her research on inflammation and cognition in AD at AAIC 2018: "We used the triple transgenic mouse model that was actually developed at UCI, and we are hoping to...use this protein as a possible biomarker or as a target for treatment."
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Postdoctoral researcher and Alzheimer's Association Research Fellowship Awardee Stefania Forner explains her research on synaptic changes in the human brain.
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Sunil Gandhi (left) and Mathew Blurton-Jones (right)Steve Zylius / UCI Currently, 2 out of every 3 people with Alzheimer's disease are women. Last year, UCI MIND began a partnership with Maria Shriver's Women's Alzheimer's Movement. This partnership launched a grant competition focused on understanding the role of sex in Alzheimer's disease. UCI researchers Sunil Gandhi and Mathew Blurton-Jones have been awarded this year's $100,000 grant. Their research will focus on the role of microglia in the brains of men and women using induced pluripotent stem cells generated from skin cells donated by UCI ADRC participants, modern mouse models of the…
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This week, BioArctic Neuroscience, Esai, and Biogen made headlines when they announced via press release the topline and positive results of their Phase 2a study of the anti-amyloid antibody BAN2401. The press release indicated that the drug “demonstrated statistically significant slowing in clinical decline and reduction of amyloid beta accumulated in the brain” in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease. To be sure, this is welcomed news. Too often headlines for Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials are about “flops” and “failures.” So we should take this good news and embrace it. Unfortunately, there remain many questions to which we need answers before we…
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Recent scientific reports, one in the journal Neuron and another coming out in the journal Cell, present some intriguing new data indicating a link between human herpes viruses and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Because the majority of AD cases cannot be attributed to genetics alone, there has been keen interest in finding other factors that affect the risk of developing AD. Head trauma and infections are two such factors that have received attention by researchers. With regard to infectious agents, speculation has often centered on the herpes viruses, especially herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1). Human herpes viruses are neurotropic, which means they…
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Honoring fathers, grandfathers, and caregivers this Father's Day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXPWK--D0Yg&feature=youtu.be Join the fight against Alzheimer's disease by making a donation in honor or memory of someone you love. On behalf of UCI MIND, thank you to all the fathers, grandfathers, and caregivers. DONATE >
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Reflections on Mother's Day by Virginia Naeve and Dr. Rosalyn Laudati, members of the UCI MIND Leadership Council. I just received an email advertisement from a lovely seaside restaurant stating that they are providing a “Mother’s Day Brunch that your mother will never forget.” I would have loved taking mom there on Mother’s Day, but Alzheimer’s disease forever changed those kinds of plans for us. Up until about the last four years of mom’s disease, we always loved Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, as her disease progressed, it was heartbreaking for me to realize that Mother’s Day had lost its meaning for…
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Read and share this infographic about driving safety and older adults from the National Institute on Aging at NIH. Click here to learn more.
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Contributed by Carl Cotman, PhD, Founding Director of UCI MIND The role of exercise in reducing or slowing Alzheimer’s disease keeps coming up on headlines. Observational studies like the one in this article suggest that brain health may be different for older adults who exercise versus those who do not. While the results of studies like this one are intriguing, disease modifying effects need to be demonstrated in a larger and more diverse populations using accessible, cost-effective and sustainable programs that have the potential for implementation in a community setting. To address this need, UCI MIND and the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative…
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Contributed by Bryce Mander, PhD As reported in CNN, a new study published in JAMA Neurology indicates that healthy older adults who are excessively sleepy during the day show a greater buildup over time of β-amyloid plaques, a defining brain feature of Alzheimer’s disease, compared to those who are not excessively sleepy. As we describe in our editorial on this article, this study is an important advance in our understanding of how sleep disturbance in general can result in increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Many studies over the past few years, including our own, have linked poor sleep to increased…
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by Joshua Grill, PhD Numerous studies have shown links between lifestyle factors and risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. A new assessment of available studies by investigators at University College in London examines one lifestyle factor, marriage, and finds that people with a spouse may be at decreased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. In contrast, widows and people who have been single their whole lives may be at 20-40% increased risk. At UCI MIND, a variety of studies have explored the implications of spousal status on Alzheimer's disease clinical trials. In particular, we've shown that people with…
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A new study published in JAMA Neurology explored participants' perspectives on receiving amyloid PET scan results as part of an Alzheimer’s disease prevention clinical trial, the A4 study. Participants at UCI MIND contributed to this important research, led by investigators at the University of Pennsylvania (read more about the study here). Amyloid PET is a biomarker test that could someday be used to identify people at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease who may benefit from preventative or disease-delaying treatments. Biomarker testing such as amyloid PET is being used more and more in the research setting to identify participants appropriate for Alzheimer's disease…
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Today, September 21, is WORLD ALZHEIMER'S DAY! Our faculty and staff are spending this day, as they do every other day: In the laboratory performing cutting edge research with molecules, cells, and animal models to unlock the causes of Alzheimer's disease and identify treatment targets Working with volunteer participants who have donated their time to help us better understand, diagnose, and treat Alzheimer’s disease through research Conducting clinical trials of promising therapies we hope will prevent, reduce, or reverse Alzheimer’s disease We hope today you will consider doing one or all of the following: ADVOCATE: Write to your local, state, or federal representative and communicate the need for increased funding for Alzheimer’s research and improved…
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by Mark Mapstone, PhD, Professor of Neurology By now, most Alzheimer’s researchers have seen the writing on the wall. If we are to realize successful treatments or even a cure for Alzheimer’s disease we must turn our attention from the study of patients who have already developed dementia to those who are in the earliest stages of the disease where presumably, the brain pathology is less extensive and possibly more receptive to intervention. This shift to studying preclinical disease will allow us to determine exactly what the earliest brain changes are and hopefully, develop means to treat, reverse, or even…
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In the recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers from Boston University published seminal findings on the prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in American football players. Understandably, the study has generated numerous headlines. CTE is characterized by abnormal accumulation of a protein called tau in specific parts of the brain after repeated head trauma, leading to abnormal behavior, cognitive decline, or both. In the new study, the largest study of its kind, post mortem examination of the brains of 202 football players revealed a high prevalence of CTE among professional players (98.3%) and a much…
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CNN has featured data presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London, which offer the latest support to the value of a healthy diet to late life brain function. The study by investigators at UCSF and University of Michigan examined a national cohort for adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet is associated with lower risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, two conditions linked to Alzheimer's disease. In line with several previous studies, the investigators found that those who eat a diet composed largely of plants and healthy fats (found in fish, nuts and olive oil, for example) are…
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Day 2 at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference featured a poster presentation from Dr. Chuang-Kuo Wu on his research to better understand and diagnose posterior cortical atrophy (video) and a lecture from Dr. S. Ahmad Sajjadi on higher education as a protective factor against cognitive decline in the oldest-old. Over 5,600 researchers and clinicians are in attendance at the conference this year, providing UCI MIND exciting opportunities to learn from and share findings with our global partners in the fight to solve Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
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Today, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed what researchers at UCI MIND have long known to be true: Alzheimer’s disease is an escalating public health crisis that requires increased attention. The report examined rates of death due to Alzheimer’s disease from 1999 to 2014 and found a staggering 55% national increase over that time. Rates were higher among women than men and among non-Hispanic whites compared to other racial/ethnic populations. However, over this time period Alzheimer's death rates saw a greater increase within minority groups compared to non-Hispanic whites. The report also confirmed that the number of Alzheimer’s deaths is highest in…
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UCI MIND investigators Mathew Blurton-Jones, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurobiology & Behavior, Wayne Poon, PhD, Director of UCI MIND Tissue Repository, and Edsel Abud, MD/PhD student, have created a method to generate brain cells called microglia using human skin cells. Here, they discuss their findings and what it means for Alzheimer's disease research in an interview with Chelsea Cox, Associate Director of Education: What is microglia and what role does it play in Alzheimer's disease? Poon: Microglia are the immune cells of the brain. They play a big role in the inflammation of the brain that occurs in Alzheimer’s disease. How can…
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by Joshua Grill, PhD April 12, 2017 On April 6, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) partially reversed an earlier decision to halt direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing by the company 23andMe, a personal genomics company based in Silicon Valley. The new decision approves the company to provide “genetic health risk reports” for 10 diseases, including 8 rare disorders—Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, Celiac Disease, Early-Onset Primary Dystonia, Factor XI Deficiency, G6PD Deficiency, Gaucher Disease, Hereditary Hemochromatosis, and Hereditary Thrombophilia—and two common age-related neurological disorders—Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). After age, the strongest risk factor for AD is genetics. The e4…
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by Joshua Grill, PhD Letters: A quick cure for Alzheimer's? OC Register, March 29, 2017 Re: “Is Alzheimer’s treatment of injecting stem cells into the brain a breakthrough or quackery?” : The Register recently reported on a local neurosurgeon who is injecting liposuctioned stem cell serum into the brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease for $10,000 per treatment. The neurosurgeon says the patient is improving...
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