Research has revealed clear evidence that changes in the orchestration of brain oxygenation dynamics and neuronal function in Alzheimer’s disease contribute to the neurodegeneration.

The study “Neurovascular phase coherence is altered in Alzheimer’s Disease” is published in Brain Communications. Researchers found that the median respiration rate was approximately 13 breaths per minute for the control group, and approximately 17 breaths per minute for the Alzheimer’s group.

Prof Stefanovska said: This is a revolutionary discovery that may open a whole new world in the study of the Alzheimer's disease. It most likely reflects an inflammation, maybe in the brain, that once detected can probably be treated and severe states of Alzheimer's might be prevented in the future.”           

Scientists led by the Institute of Nanotechnology in Italy, in collaboration with the ESRF, the European Synchrotron in Grenoble, France, have discovered how X-ray micro- and nano- tomography can provide clues on the processes that link the gut neurons with those in the brain and may trigger Alzheimer’s.  The results are published in Science Advances.

An estimated 76,000 Oklahomans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, a number that has surged by 13% in just five years. Yet, despite the increasing need for effective treatments, therapies for age-related dementia have largely failed to slow or halt the disease's progression. Now, a University of Oklahoma researcher, backed by $2.2 million in federal funding, is leading efforts to unravel the mysteries of cognitive decline in aging – potentially opening the door to new, life-changing medications in the process.

Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and carriers of risk genes experience notable disruptions in sleep patterns such as a lack of non-REM sleep, according to new research. The experiments also identified two hormone-based therapies that could reverse these disruptions in mouse models, pointing to new therapeutic targets for this devastating neurological condition. Patients with neurodegenerative conditions often have poor sleep and/or experience sleep disturbances, including people with Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease. However, few studies have examined sleep changes in ALS, which is another neurodegenerative disorder with no cure. Some theories posit that neurodegeneration can damage circuits that govern sleep in the brain, while others speculate that sleep disturbances arise from movement-related symptoms common in patients.  Here, Simon Guillot and colleagues harnessed sleep study techniques to examine sleep patterns in patients with ALS and non-symptomatic carriers of disease-linked mutations in the genes C9ORF72 and SOD1. Both groups tended to be more awake during the night and had less non-REM sleep, which correlated with poorer cognitive performance during clinical follow-up. Guillot et al. observed similar disturbances in three separate mouse models of ALS. However, these symptoms could be reversed with the FDA-approved drug suvorexant, which suppresses a peptide named orexin that regulates wakefulness. Deliveries of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) had a similar therapeutic effect in the mice, and slowed the loss of motor neurons in the lumbar spine. The researchers call for further preclinical and clinical work to examine how sleep disruptions affect the progression of cognitive issues, weight loss, and motor symptoms in patients with ALS.