It’s one of the biggest mysteries of Alzheimer’s. The disease is associated with the formation of protein plaques in the brain, but why is it that some people with plaques seem not to have the disease?
Research suggests that some people’s brains are able to reorganise during the early stages of Alzheimer’s, delaying the appearance of initial symptoms.
The plaques in question are small mounds of a protein called beta-amyloid, and are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Whether these plaques are a cause of the disease has been hotly debated.
William Jagust from the University of California in Berkley found that older people with plaques had increased blood flow – which means stronger activation of that brain area – in the regions of the brain that are usually activated during memory formation, compared with the older people who did not have plaques. The team then analysed whether this extra brain activation might be helping to compensate for the plaques.
Read the full, original story: Brains can power up to get around Alzheimer’s plaques
