Alzheimer's disease is something that affects lots of people, and it's still not clear how to cope with that.
New studies tend to look for something to understand the disease better, and the newest research seems to find some new information.
Let's see how a small part of the human brain is correlated with Alzheimer's disease.
New ways to solve the problem
New drugs for Alzheimer's disease target amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, but it's tricky to know if memory loss is from Alzheimer's or another disorder.
A study suggests that even without amyloid plaques, a smaller hippocampus, a brain area linked to memory, is tied to cognitive decline.
Harvard Medical School's Dr. Bernard J. Hanseeuw says this could help predict responses to new drugs and understand cognitive decline better.
How it was detected
The study involved 128 people aged around 72 without memory issues at the start.
They had brain scans to check for amyloid plaques, tau tangles (another Alzheimer's marker), and hippocampus size.
Over seven years, those with faster hippocampus shrinkage had quicker cognitive decline.
Even when considering amyloid and tau levels, hippocampus size alone accounted for 10% of cognitive decline differences.
Why it's important
Dr. Hanseeuw notes dementia has many causes, and besides Alzheimer's, other types may contribute to hippocampus shrinkage and cognitive decline.
However, the study's limitation is that it mostly involved educated white participants, so results might not apply to everyone.
