What is Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia affecting over 25 million people worldwide. It is expected to rise to over 81 million people by 2040 (Ferri et al., 2005). Currently, someone develops AD every 68 seconds in America (Thies et al., 2013). The most common early symptoms include loss of short-term memory, irritability, and confusion, which can worsen over time leading to loss of long-term memory and inability to care for oneself (Waldemar et al., 2007). Currently there is no cure for AD and new... Continue
Genetically Induced Sleep Deprivation on the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease
Recently, it was reported that patients with AD who also suffer from low sleep quality have increased Aβ deposition in the brain compared to patients with AD that experience normal sleep patterns. Experiments in mice showed that sleep is associated with a 60% increase in the interstitial space in the brain and greatly increases the rate at which Aβ is... Continue
Tracking Axonal Transport of Mitochondria with GFP- Tagged Cytochrome-c Oxidase in a Drosophila Alzheimer’s Disease Model
The presence of Aß is correlated to activation of several possible downstream cascade mechanisms that can lead to neurodegeneration. Evidence shows that one possible down stream effect of Aß toxicity is the hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule stabilizing protein tau. In the hyperphosphorylated state, tau is inactive, thus microtubule... Continue