Studies linking dementia and brain inflammation in mice – Alzheimer’s Society comments
Two new papers are being published in Science Translational Medicine which shed more light on the mechanism that leads to cognitive ageing in mice and humans.
Up until now, most drugs have targeted rogue proteins called amyloid plaques that are found in people with Alzheimer's disease. This research team’s work suggests targeting inflammation could reduce these signs of ageing.
Dr James Pickett, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Society said: “This study does shed some more light on how the brain ages, but as the mice studied did not have dementia it’s impossible to understand at this stage if these findings could help the 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK.
“Dementia research has long focused on targeting amyloid plaques in the brain that are seen in dementia. Instead this study looks at the impact of inflammation on memory and thinking. It’s an emerging exciting field, and we would welcome more dementia-specific research in this area which is why at Alzheimer’s Society, we are supporting a number of projects in this field”.
