EurekAlert! In the Spotlight - Alzheimer's Awareness Month

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

In honor of Alzheimer's Awareness Month, we’re exploring the science and stories surrounding Alzheimer’s disease.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Jul-2025 08:10 ET (30-Jul-2025 12:10 GMT/UTC)

16-Apr-2025

Pushing the limits of brain imaging: A new tool for targeted delivery of imaging agents and drugs

SPIE--International Society for Optics and Photonics
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Repeated administration of imaging agents to the mouse brain during live multiphoton microscopy is enabled by a newly developed delivery system. This low-profile cannula, implanted at a shallow angle, preserves optical access for high-resolution imaging while allowing direct infusion of compounds. The new approach was validated through experiments tracking fluorescent markers, degenerating neurons in Alzheimer's disease mice, and measuring brain tissue oxygen levels over time. This advancement promises to enhance longitudinal brain imaging studies, providing valuable insights into brain function and disease progression.

Journal: Neurophotonics

16-Apr-2025

Hereditary Alzheimer’s: Blood marker for defective neuronal connections rises early

DZNE - German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Individuals with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease show altered blood levels indicating damaged neuronal contacts as early as 11 years before the expected onset of dementia symptoms. This is evident in the levels of the protein “beta-synuclein”. An international team, including researchers from DZNE, Ulm University Hospital and University Medicine Halle report these findings in the journal “Alzheimer’s & Dementia”. The biomarker studied here could potentially help to detect neurodegeneration at an early stage and thus indicate an adequate time for starting treatment.

Journal: Alzheimer s & Dementia

16-Apr-2025

Towards gene-targeting drugs capable of targeting brain diseases

Tokyo University of Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Getting therapeutic drugs past the blood-brain barrier has long been a major challenge in treating brain diseases. Now, researchers from Japan have explored how cholesterol-modified heteroduplex oligonucleotides (Chol-HDOs) enhance drug delivery to the brain. Their study reveals that Chol-HDOs bind tightly to serum proteins, allowing them to persist in the bloodstream and cross into brain tissue. These findings offer insights into gene-targeting therapies and could help develop treatments for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

Journal: Journal of Controlled Release

16-Apr-2025

Novel study at Brown shows how late-life health traces back to what happened in the womb

Brown University

It makes sense that a viral infection during a pregnancy might negatively affect the fetus — but scientists now know that some effects of an adverse event during pregnancy may not be revealed for decades. On a more empowering note, scientists have found that low stress in pregnancy, consistent parenting in a child’s early years and quality preschool experiences reduce the risk of heart disease and mental illness in adulthood.

Those particular insights on how early life impacts future health, and many more, were made possible because of the New England Family Study, a one-of-a-kind research project launched in 1959 and continuing today.

Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

15-Apr-2025

Menopause at an early age can exacerbate cognitive decline

Tohoku University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Why does dementia affect more women than men? To help solve this mystery, researchers uncovered a new risk factor: age of menopause onset.

Journal: Alzheimer s & Dementia

15-Apr-2025

AI tool unlocks long-standing biomedical mystery behind Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A novel artificial intelligence (AI) tool has revealed how disease-linked proteins misfold into harmful structures, a key advance in understanding neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The study, led by Mingchen Chen of the Changping Laboratory and Rice University’s Peter Wolynes, introduces RibbonFold, a new computational method capable of predicting the structures of amyloids.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences