Science Market Update

Biomedical science researchers have worked tirelessly at the University of California, Riverside since the discovery of a crucial link involving mice, humans, and Alzheimer's disease. Back in 2006, UCR researchers, in a collaborative effort with the University of South Florida, discovered an interesting connection between the immune system and Alzheimer's disease while experimenting on lab mice. Professor Douglas Ethell, the assistant professor of Biomedical Sciences at UCR, along with the USF's own Professor Gary Arendash of the Johnnie B. Byrd Institute, was instrumental in this find. 

New research from Columbia University’s Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain shows that silent strokes may be the cause of memory loss in aging people. Dr. Adam M. Brickman, Ph.D. and Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of Neuropsychology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, told Neurology that what’s new about his research is that it “examines silent strokes and hippocampal shrinkage simultaneously.” In the past, experts believed memory loss in the elderly was a result of deterioration in the hippocampus. While there’s truth in this logic, Dr. Brickman says that silent strokes (strokes so small they may go unnoticed) also contribute to the problem of memory loss in older people.

Results of two Alzheimer's research studies from Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) have been published in the past month, adding significant new information to our understanding of the disease and how it functions.