Dementia News

September 17, 2025

Top Headlines

Sleepless Nights May Raise Dementia Risk by 40%, Mayo Clinic Reveals

Sep. 14, 2025 — Chronic insomnia may do more than leave you groggy, it could speed up brain aging. A large Mayo Clinic study found that people with long-term sleep troubles were 40% more likely to develop dementia or cognitive impairment, with brain scans showing ...

Simple Blood Test Could Spot Alzheimer’s Years Before Symptoms

Sep. 9, 2025 — Scientists discovered that certain blood proteins linked to brain injury and inflammation strongly correlate with early signs of memory and cognitive decline, especially in Hispanic and Latino adults. This breakthrough points to a future where ...

Sweeteners in Diet Drinks May Steal Years from the Brain

Sep. 4, 2025 — A large Brazilian study following more than 12,000 middle-aged adults found that those consuming the most artificial sweeteners—commonly found in diet sodas, flavored waters, and processed snacks—experienced significantly faster declines in ...

A 3-minute Brainwave Test Could Spot Alzheimer’s Years Before Symptoms

Sep. 4, 2025 — Scientists at the University of Bath have developed a simple three-minute brainwave test called Fastball EEG that can detect memory problems years before Alzheimer’s is typically diagnosed. Unlike traditional memory tests, it passively records ...

Your Nose Could Detect Alzheimer’s Years Before Memory Loss

Sep. 1, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered why smell often fades early in Alzheimer’s: the brain’s immune cells dismantle key nerve connections between the olfactory bulb and brainstem. Membrane changes in neurons send an “eat-me” signal to microglia, which ...

Lithium Deficiency May Be the Hidden Spark Behind Alzheimer’s

Aug. 29, 2025 — Harvard scientists have uncovered that lithium, a naturally occurring element in the brain, may be the missing piece in understanding Alzheimer’s. Their decade-long research shows that lithium depletion—caused by amyloid plaques binding to ...

This Simple Diet Could Help Protect Memory, Even with Alzheimer’s Genes

Aug. 28, 2025 — A Mediterranean-style diet was linked to lower dementia risk, especially in people with high-risk Alzheimer’s genes. The strongest benefits were seen in those with two APOE4 copies, showing diet may help offset genetic vulnerability. Researchers ...

Tiny Protein Dismantles the Toxic Clumps Behind Alzheimer’s

Aug. 23, 2025 — St. Jude researchers revealed that midkine blocks amyloid beta from forming harmful clumps linked to Alzheimer’s. Without it, the damaging assemblies accelerate, but with it, growth halts. The finding could inspire new drugs that harness ...

A Startling Omega-3 Deficiency May Explain Women’s Alzheimer’s Risk

Aug. 22, 2025 — Researchers discovered that women with Alzheimer’s show a sharp loss of omega fatty acids, unlike men, pointing to sex-specific differences in the disease. The study suggests omega-rich diets could be key, but clinical trials are ...

Alzheimer’s Risk May Start at the Brain’s Border, Not Inside It

Aug. 4, 2025 — Your brain has its own elite defense team — and new research shows these "guardian" cells might be the real battleground for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and stroke. Scientists discovered that most genetic risks linked to these ...

Scientists Discover the Receptor That Helps Your Brain Clean Itself—and Fight Alzheimer’s

July 27, 2025 — Scientists at UCSF have uncovered how certain immune cells in the brain, called microglia, can effectively digest toxic amyloid beta plaques that cause Alzheimer’s. They identified a key receptor, ...

The Silent Threat: How Hearing Loss and Loneliness Are Fueling Memory Decline

July 18, 2025 — A massive European study has uncovered a powerful connection between hearing loss, loneliness, and memory decline. Researchers at the University of Geneva found that older adults with hearing ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:59am EDT

Scientists Just Found 200+ Hidden Proteins That May Drive Alzheimer’s

July 12, 2025 — A surprising new study has uncovered over 200 misfolded proteins in the brains of aging rats with cognitive decline, beyond the infamous amyloid and tau plaques long blamed for Alzheimer’s. These ...

Researchers Grow 400+ Brain Cell Types—a Leap for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Research

July 12, 2025 — Scientists at ETH Zurich have broken new ground by generating over 400 types of nerve cells from stem cells in the lab, far surpassing previous ...

Your Brain’s Hidden Defenses Against Alzheimer’s

July 10, 2025 — Scientists at UCSF combined advanced brain-network modeling, genetics, and imaging to reveal how tau protein travels through neural highways and how certain genes either accelerate its toxic journey ...

A Midlife MRI That Spots Rapid Aging and Signals Disease Long Before Symptoms

July 2, 2025 — A new brain scan tool shows how quickly your body and mind are aging. It can spot early signs of diseases like dementia, long before symptoms begin. ...

Scientists Just Found a Sugar Switch That Protects Your Brain from Alzheimer's

June 30, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered a surprising sugar-related mechanism inside brain cells that could transform how we fight Alzheimer’s and other ...

This Brain Scan Sees Alzheimer’s Coming—but Only in Some Brains

June 29, 2025 — USC researchers have found a promising new brain scan marker that could better detect Alzheimer’s risk — but only for some. The tau-based benchmark works in Hispanic and White populations when ...

The Brain’s Sweet Spot: How Criticality Could Unlock Learning, Memory—and Prevent Alzheimer’s

June 25, 2025 — Our brains may work best when teetering on the edge of chaos. A new theory suggests that criticality a sweet spot between order and randomness is the ...

The Common Blood Test That Predicts How Fast Alzheimer’s Hits

June 22, 2025 — A simple blood test could reveal which early Alzheimer’s patients are most at risk for rapid decline. Researchers found that people with high insulin resistance—measured by the TyG index—were ...

Iron Overload: The Hidden Culprit Behind Early Alzheimer’s in Down Syndrome

June 21, 2025 — USC researchers have uncovered a hidden driver behind the early and severe onset of Alzheimer's in people with Down syndrome: iron overload in the ...

The Hunger Switch in Your Nose: How Smells Tell Your Brain to Stop Eating

June 12, 2025 — A team of scientists has discovered a direct link between the smell of food and feelings of fullness at least in lean mice. This brain circuit, located in the medial septum and triggered by food ...

Immune System Discovery Reveals Potential Solution to Alzheimer's

June 2, 2025 — A new way of thinking about Alzheimer's disease has yielded a discovery that could be the key to stopping the cognitive decline seen in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, ...

Sustained in the Brain: How Lasting Emotions Arise from Brief Stimuli, in Humans and Mice

May 29, 2025 — Humans and mice share persistent brain-activity patterns in response to adverse sensory experience, scientists find, opening a window to our emotions and, perhaps, neuropsychiatric ...

Sharing of Lifespan Brain Study Data Expected to Light New Paths

May 28, 2025 — Researchers have released the full dataset from the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study, a decade-long project designed to track brain and cognitive health as people age and distinguish neurologically ...

Newly Identified Group of Nerve Cells in the Brain Regulates Bodyweight

May 28, 2025 — Obesity is a global health problem that affects many people. In recent years, very promising anti-obesity drugs have been developed. Despite these successes, there are patients who do not respond to ...

New Pace of Aging Measurement Reveals Trajectories of Healthspan and Lifespan in Older People

May 27, 2025 — A newly refined method for measuring the Pace of Aging in population-based studies provides a powerful tool for predicting risks associated with aging, including chronic illness, cognitive ...

Different Versions of APOE Protein Have Varying Effect on Microglia in Alzheimer's Disease

May 27, 2025 — A new study suggests how APOE2 is protective while APOE4 increases disease risk by regulating the brain's immune ...

Potential New Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease, Other Neurodegenerative Conditions

May 22, 2025 — Worldwide, more than 55 million people suffer from dementia caused by Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and other conditions that destroy cells in the brain and nervous system. While there is no ...

New Research on ALS Opens Up for Early Treatment

May 20, 2025 — Using the gene scissors CRISPR and stem cells, researchers have managed to identify a common denominator for different gene mutations that all cause the neurological disease ALS. The research shows ...

Study Reveals Impacts of Alzheimer's Disease on the Whole Body

May 16, 2025 — While Alzheimer's disease is mostly considered a disorder of the brain, emerging evidence suggests that the condition also affects other organs of the body. Working with the laboratory fruit ...

Sugar-Coated Nanotherapy Dramatically Improves Neuron Survival in Alzheimer's Model

May 14, 2025 — In many neurodegenerative diseases, proteins misfold and clump together in brain tissue. Scientists developed a new therapy made of peptides and a sugar that naturally occurs in plants. The ...

CAR-T Cell Therapy for Cancer Causes 'Brain Fog,' Study Shows

May 12, 2025 — Cancer treatment with a cell-based immunotherapy causes mild cognitive impairment, a Stanford Medicine team found. They also identified compounds that could treat ...

Drug to Slow Alzheimer's Well Tolerated Outside of Clinical Trial Setting

May 12, 2025 — In a recent study, researchers found adverse events were rare and manageable among clinic patients with very mild or mild Alzheimer's disease who received lecanemab ...

HIV Drugs Offer 'Substantial' Alzheimer's Protection, New Research Indicates

May 8, 2025 — The drugs, called NRTIs, have the potential to prevent a million cases of Alzheimer's every year, the researchers ...

Sleep Apnea During REM Sleep Linked to Memory-Related Brain Changes

May 7, 2025 — Obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that causes lower oxygen levels during sleep, is linked to degeneration of brain regions associated with memory through damage to the brain's small blood ...

Knowing Your Alzheimer's Risk May Ease Anxiety but Reduce Motivation for Healthy Habits

May 7, 2025 — Discovering whether the brain carries early signs of Alzheimer’s doesn’t necessarily spark fear or sadness—in fact, people often feel less anxious after learning their results. But there’s a ...

Most People Say They Want to Know Their Risk for Alzheimer's Dementia, Fewer Follow Through

May 6, 2025 — A new study examines the choices healthy research volunteers make when given the opportunity to learn their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease dementia. The researchers found a large ...

A Protein Link Between Brain Diseases and Leaky Blood Vessels

Apr. 30, 2025 — Reduced levels of a critical protein are linked to devastating brain diseases like Alzheimer's, frontotemporal dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Surprisingly, the protein ...

Increasing Physical Activity in Middle Age May Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease

Apr. 30, 2025 — An increase in physical activity between the ages of 45 and 65 could help prevent Alzheimer's disease, while inactivity may be detrimental to brain ...

Researchers Find That Increase of 'CLU' Protein Promotes Brain Resilience and Could Provide Protection from Alzheimer's Disease

Apr. 30, 2025 — Recently approved Alzheimer's drugs offer a step forward for treating the disease, but new therapeutic strategies are needed to complement them and provide personalized therapeutic approaches. ...

First Synthetic 'Mini Prion' Shows How Protein Misfolding Multiplies

Apr. 28, 2025 — Prions transmit their abnormally folded shape onto other proteins. Researchers designed a synthetic fragment of the tau protein that exhibits prion-like behavior. Misfolded tau proteins are the ...