The team studied a brain circuit called the corticostriatal circuit, which helps control decision-making and behavioral flexibility. When this circuit does not work properly, people may struggle to adapt to new information or changing environments.

A molecular imaging technology developed by Prof. Shai Rahimipour of Bar-Ilan University is helping scientists uncover one of the earliest and most elusive drivers of Alzheimer's disease, opening new possibilities for earlier diagnosis and more precise treatment.

The technology played a central role in a new international study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York together with collaborators from Bar-Ilan University and Canada. The study provides compelling evidence that soluble amyloid-beta oligomers -- tiny toxic protein aggregates believed to trigger Alzheimer's disease years before symptoms appear -- can damage brain cells long before they become detectable by today's diagnostic methods.