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High-resolution scans pinpoint part of brain where Alzheimer’s begins

  • Scientist from Columbia University in New York made the discovery
  • They found the disease starts in the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC)
  • It is linked to the part of the brain where long-term memories are stored
  • Study also outlined how the disease spreads from the LEC to the rest of the brain

By
Fiona Macrae


PUBLISHED:

13:18 EST, 22 December 2013

|
UPDATED:

05:50 EST, 23 December 2013

Alzheimer’s disease could be diagnosed earlier after scientists pinpointed where it starts  in the brain.

The discovery means patients could benefit from starting treatment sooner.

Researchers scanned the brains of 96 pensioners and tracked their health for three-and-a-half years. None had memory problems at the start of the study but 12 had developed mild Alzheimer’s by the end.

Discovery: This computer-generated image shows the results of the findings – that Alzheimer’s disease begins in the entrohinal cotrex (shown in yellow), and then spreads to other cortical regions (shown in red)

By closely examining the results from 96 adults, the scientists were able to see that, while 84 of the brains remained normal, the 12 which came to develop Alzheimer’s shows reduced metabolic activity in the LEC area.

The change, associated with declining memory, occurred at a time when all 12 volunteers were free of dementia. The study also showed how over time the effects of Alzheimer’s spread from the LEC to other areas of the brain’s cerebral cortex.

One region especially targeted was the parietal cortex, an area involved in functions including spatial orientation and navigation.

Lead researcher Professor Scott Small, director of Columbia University’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, said: ‘It has been known for years that Alzheimer’s starts in a brain region known as the entorhinal cortex.

But this study is the first to show in living patients that it begins specifically in the lateral entorhinal cortex, or LEC.

‘The LEC is considered to be a gateway to the hippocampus, which plays a key role in the consolidation of long-term memory, among other functions. If the LEC is affected, other aspects of the hippocampus will also be affected.’

Research: The insight into the debilitating disease was carried out by Columbia University’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

The scientists suspect Alzheimer’s spreads through a kind of ‘domino effect’, whereby neurons affected in the LEC reduce the ability of neurons around them to resist the change.

Two of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease are sticky protein deposits in the brain called beta amyloid plaques, and ‘tangles’ of tau protein.

A first step to accumulating beta amyloid is the production of amyloid precursor protein (APP).

‘The LEC is especially vulnerable to Alzheimer’s because it normally accumulates tau, which sensitises the LEC to the accumulation of APP,’ said co-author Professor Karen Duff.

‘Together, these two proteins damage neurons in the LEC, setting the stage for Alzheimer’s.’

Tests on mice confirmed that the same changes in the LEC seen in the volunteers were associated with raised tau and APP.

The researchers used a high-resolution form of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map metabolic activity in the brains of the study participants.

‘Now that we’ve pinpointed where Alzheimer’s starts, and shown that those changes are observable using fMRI, we may be able to detect Alzheimer’s at its earliest preclinical stage, when the disease might be more treatable and before it spreads to other brain regions,’ said Prof Small.

The new imaging method could also be used to assess potential new drug treatments at early stages of the disease, said the researchers.

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Comments (34)

what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

scooter,

norwich, United Kingdom,

2 hours ago

Indeed, our modern ”recipe for disaster”, and hence the acceleration of Alzheimer’s when compared to other degenerative diseases ….. ie, Low-Fat diets, devoid of natural saturated-fat and replaced with trans-fats: And Statins, thus reducing cholesterol: the body’s natural anti-oxidant ….. And what are the two primary constituents of the brain …… ”Saturated fat and Cholesterol”. Thus to reduce them both, is playing with neurological FIRE

MarcoL,

Hitchin, United Kingdom,

34 minutes ago

Any link to this info?

Peter Travis,

Uppsala-Sweden,

2 hours ago

An American pathologist studied the plaques in the brains of a large number of patients who had had Alzheimers. Plaques are the cause of Alzheimers. In half of the brains he found that the plaques contained borrelia bacteria, the Lyme disease bacterium.

scooter,

norwich, United Kingdom,

2 hours ago

I disagree, I believe plaques are the remnants of the battle that was fought in trying to save the integrity of the myelin sheaths the communication lines protection, from exposure to oxidants and not the actual cause as some interpret.

pixist,

Liverpool,

2 hours ago

Every politician, every doctor, every drug company employee, everyone is at risk of this disease. The world needs to forget profit and do it for humanity’s sake. We’re sinking into a mire of dying brains and destroyed families – it likely will be your family too. And if we have success with that then what about cancer, virus diseases, etc?

Student,

Leeds, United Kingdom,

7 hours ago

Unfortunately in the future dementia will be a problem for everyone. Dementia will also be greatly worsened by chemtrails. Healthy diets include foods with some folates, organic cocos nucifera oil, cinnamon, vitamins B12 and D3 (25 OH D3 vitamin test needed to help correct levels). Avoiding aspartame, sucralose, artificial sweeteners, HFCS, milk, dairy, wheat and gluten, meat, vaccines, fluoride, mercury and aluminium cookware and reducing bisphenols such as BPA/BPS exposure is important. More information for those who want to research this subject can be found by looking online for: ‘health harvard ups and downs folic acid’, ‘comingdem rense.com’, ‘chemtrails datapage rense.com’, ‘iaomt.org safe removal amalgam’, ‘naturalnews’, ‘naturalblaze’ and ‘natural society’.

Skylor,

USA,

8 hours ago

Long overdue. I was shock to read 5 years ago that doctors knew so little about Alzheimers. About time they got serious and really tried to learn more about it. Problem is money, not funding but profiting from treating it. Sure the drug companies make more $ selling those “blue pills” and then more babies are born–or have to be aborted, that mean more $ for them.

Gemini21,

Southampton, United Kingdom,

8 hours ago

My Mother has Alzheimers so at what point do I request a MRI scan?

Deadpool,

London, United Kingdom,

8 hours ago

NOW

nohuffpo,

atlanta – usa,

9 hours ago

16 years too late, daddy. RIP.

Deadpool,

London, United Kingdom,

7 hours ago

That hit me to my core.

Killuminati82,

Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom,

11 hours ago

Get off STATINS, eat 12eggs a day !!!!!!!!!!!!!

VOTE _UKIP,

PUT_THE_GREAT_BACK_IN_BRITAIN, United Kingdom,

9 hours ago

What?????

Skylor,

USA,

8 hours ago

why not 13

Deadpool,

London, United Kingdom,

12 hours ago

Can it not be treated like a cancer and remove that region that’s developed the disease? Please someone answer my question as I have an emotional/personal connection to this particular topic.

Kat,

Virginia, United States,

10 hours ago

Since it’s the area associated with long-term memories, I would think removing it could leave the person with amnesia. That doesn’t sound like a good solution.

Sick of it all,

Lincolnshire, United Kingdom,

10 hours ago

Err no ,you cannot remove parts of the brain. You would either die, or be in a severely brain damaged, vegetative state. Worse than Alzheimer’s.

Andy,

Warrington, United Kingdom,

12 hours ago

Gradually the net is closing on Alzheimer’s. Success can’t come fast enough.

2 of 3 replies

Major Catastrophe,

Niedersachsen,

5 hours ago

To BGW, Hamburg: 2 years for an MRI scan in the UK? Crazy isn’t it? In my own area of Germany a scan is often possible within days of a consultation not years. And using the very latest in MRI technology too.

anna,

Devon, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

BGW why are you pretending you are from Hamburg, Germany? It is obvious that you are from the UK. Why do people creat usernames and pretend they are from a different country then make comments that show they are not from that country?

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