Disruptions in a coordinated sleep-related brain rhythm may help explain why conditions such as aging, chronic stress, cardiovascular disease, depression, and fragmented sleep are associated with increased dementia risk.

An international team with participants from the UOC has developed an index to analyse the uneven atrophy of brain regions due to Alzheimer's disease. The study reveals that the greater the asymmetry, the greater the neurodegeneration is and the more symptoms typical of dementia are found. The tool could be used to accurately assess the efficacy of new drug treatments in patients.

Using data from the Dunedin Study, new research from the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka has uncovered another clue to potentially identifying Alzheimer's disease early.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have identified a key neural circuit that helps the brain “change gears.” The study shows that a tiny brainstem structure called the locus coeruleus plays a central role in helping the brain switch between behavioral rules and maintain flexible thinking.

A new generation of therapies that targets the immune system, rather than the brain directly, could redefine paradigms in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new Viewpoint by Michal Schwartz and Tommaso Croese. The authors discuss recent discoveries about the brain-immune axis that have reshaped decades-old assumptions about the origins of neurodegenerative conditions. They also consider promising initial results from experimental treatments such as vaccines and checkpoint inhibitors that target immune cells to promote the repair of brain tissue. “This emerging approach holds promise for transforming these devastating diseases into chronic but manageable conditions,” Schwartz and Croese write.