What does metabolism have to do with Alzheimer’s disease? Plenty, based on presentations at the 37th Annual Southern California Alzheimer’s Disease Research Conference on September 25th, 2026. There, scientists explored the connection between dementia and the different ways our bodies produce, use and regulate energy.
Hosted by UCI MIND in partnership with Alzheimer’s Orange County and the Alzheimer’s Association Orange County Chapter, the conference brought researchers, healthcare professionals, students, caregivers and community members together at the Irvine Marriott.
Under the theme “The Energy Behind Metabolism,” researchers discussed the role of mitochondria (the cell’s motor) in disease, exercise and diet, the gut microbiome, metabolomics, and GLP-1 medications. The presentations highlighted an increasingly complex picture of Alzheimer’s disease and several important areas of ongoing research.
1. Alzheimer’s disease is rarely a simple story
One important theme was just how complex dementia can be.
Alzheimer’s disease is defined by characteristic changes in the brain, including the accumulation of amyloid plaques and tau tangles. But these changes do not always occur in isolation. Particularly in older adults, multiple disease processes may contribute to cognitive decline.
That complexity matters because it may help explain why Alzheimer’s can look different from one person to another and why a treatment that targets a single biological process may not have the same effect on everyone.
Renaud LaJoie, PhD, from UC San Francisco, pointed to work supporting metabolic imaging with FDG-PET as a possible tool to parse out whether Alzheimer’s disease or another neurodegenerative process like LATE is contributing a person’s cognitive impairment.
2. The brain’s energy supply may play an important role in disease
Every cell in the brain requires energy to function. Much of that energy is produced by mitochondria, tiny structures inside cells that are sometimes described as the cell’s “powerhouses.”
Heather Wilkins, PhD, of the University of Kansas Medical Center discussed work to understand the connection between mitochondria, cellular energy and dementia.
When the systems that produce and regulate cellular energy are disrupted, brain cells may have a harder time performing the work necessary to stay healthy. Researchers are investigating whether changes in these energy-producing processes may occur early in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and how they interact with other disease processes.
Understanding those connections could eventually help researchers identify new biomarkers, approaches to risk reduction or potential treatment targets.
3. Exercise and diet may be good for more than just the body
We already know that physical activity has important benefits for cardiovascular health, strength and mobility. Work at UCI decades ago demonstrated that exercise also influences the brain—leading to protein production that may facilitate neuronal function and survival.
Jill K. Morris, PhD, of the University of Kansas Medical Center outlined work to study exercise as an intervention to improve cognitive health and brain function in Alzheimer’s disease.
Exercise affects many systems throughout the body, including blood flow, metabolism and inflammation. Scientists are working to better understand how those changes may influence the brain and whether particular types or amounts of physical activity could help support cognitive function or reduce dementia risk.
Separately, Rush University’s Puja Agarwal, PhD, delivered an overview of potential connections between nutrition and dementia, while UCI’s Katrine Whiteson, PhD, presented cutting edge and informative work on the gut microbiome. The two talks underscored a broader point: researchers are increasingly studying the connections between the gut and the brain, to understand how what we eat influences how our brain ages.
4. Researchers are able to map the bigger biological picture
Another emerging area of research is metabolomics, the study of small molecules produced as the body carries out its normal chemical processes.
Mark Mapstone, PhD, from UC Irvine discussed how researchers can use metabolomics to map the molecular landscape of neurodegeneration.
By examining patterns among thousands of molecules, scientists can investigate how processes involving energy use, inflammation and other biological functions may differ in people who develop Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.
This type of research may ultimately help scientists better understand why disease develops differently among individuals and identify biological changes that could be useful for earlier detection or the development of targeted treatments.
5. So far, GLP-1 drugs have more questions than answers for dementia
GLP-1 medications have received enormous attention in recent years, primarily for treating diabetes and obesity. Some early studies have also suggested that dementia risk could be lowered for people taking these drugs.
Alireza Atri, MD, PhD, of Banner Sun Health, referred to these and other studies as “smoke,” but whether there is “fire” for GLP-1 and similar drugs for Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias remains unclear.
So far, clinical trials of a GLP-1 drug, semaglutide, failed to show any benefit for people living with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.
That does not necessarily close the door on GLP-1 research. It raises additional questions about which biological pathways may matter most, which patients might benefit, and when in the disease process, an intervention would need to occur to have the greatest chance at effectiveness.
It is also an important reminder that promising scientific ideas still need to be tested carefully in clinical trials.
A Growing Understanding of a Complex Disease
Overall, the conference reminded attendees that Alzheimer’s disease is a complex disorder and that scientists may consider the whole body, rather than the brain in isolation, to achieve complete understanding.
Progress in Alzheimer’s research rarely comes from one discovery or one laboratory. It depends on researchers sharing findings, testing new ideas and building on one another’s work, as well as on the research participants and families who volunteer their time and make these discoveries possible.
That spirit of collaboration was evident throughout the conference. The breadth of research underway, and the collaboration among scientists approaching the disease from many different angles, offered an important reason for hope.
Curious About Where Alzheimer’s Research Goes Next?
Explore UCI MIND studies that are helping researchers investigate the many factors that may influence Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
