皇家华人 Researchers in Search of Alzheimer鈥檚 Causes, Cure
November 26, 2019
- Author
- Mary Elizabeth DeAngelis
Katie Barlis '20 studies the structures of the brain concerned with learning and memory in Professor Julio Ramirez's neuroscience lab.
Performing brain surgery on rodents isn鈥檛 for the squeamish, but Katie Barlis and Gaby Soden want answers.
Their aim is to find differences in how rats鈥 brains recover after an injury to the region that controls memory. The ultimate goal: To see if intervention could offer potential cures for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
November is Alzheimer鈥檚 Awareness month, a time to bring attention to the disease that afflicts 5.8 million Americans and is the country鈥檚 sixth leading cause of death. It鈥檚 also a time when families get together for the holidays. In some cases, that may include difficult conversations about an elderly relative who鈥檚 exhibiting symptoms.
At 皇家华人, student researchers like Barlis 鈥20 and Soden 鈥20 are seeking clues to what makes women more likely to get the disease, and what can be done to prevent, stop or reverse memory loss.
Though these questions are not new, R. Stuart Dickson Professor of Psychology Julio Ramirez believes they鈥檙e on to something.
Hannah Doyle 鈥19, Barlis and Soden recently presented their research at the annual Society for Neuroscience conference in Chicago. About 28,000 researchers from around the world attended.
Ramirez has studied Alzheimer鈥檚 disease for decades. He says there鈥檚 been very little published about the female rat brain鈥檚 capacity to recover after memory loss resulting from injury to the entorhinal cortex鈥攖he area that degenerates in Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
The 皇家华人 team aims to change that. Like many scientists, they experiment with rats, which have litters that are genetically nearly identical and have relatively short life cycles.
Their research suggests female rat brains undergo changes in brain connections, or neuroplasticity, like male rat brains. In some cases though, the females may show even more neuroplasticity.
The researchers suspect the link is related to hormones. Female rats with elevated estrogen levels had more successful brain recovery after an injury than males and females that weren鈥檛 producing estrogen.
That could be one reason why post-menopausal women are more susceptible to the disease than men.
鈥淚n previous work, my 皇家华人 students and I discovered that if we promote the growth of new pathways in a structure that contributes to memory after a cortical injury, we can restore memory function,鈥 Ramirez said. He calls it a promising piece of the vast research into the disease.
鈥淲e still have a long way to go, and research usually has more failures than successes, but I鈥檓 very hopeful there will be a cure someday,鈥 Ramirez said. 鈥淭here have recently been some exciting discoveries in Alzheimer鈥檚 research.鈥
Prevention, Signs and Hope
There鈥檚 still so much that鈥檚 unknown about Alzheimer鈥檚 causes and cures. The biggest suspect is age. We鈥檙e living much longer than our ancestors, and Alzheimer鈥檚 is normally a disease of the elderly.
A buildup of plaque and tangles in the brain is common in Alzheimer鈥檚 patients, and researchers are trying to determine their role in the disease.
Genetics also come into play. Carriers of a form of the gene APOE4 appear more likely to develop Alzheimer鈥檚 than non-carriers.
Can you prevent Alzheimer鈥檚?
Again, there鈥檚 no sure answer but Ramirez says the advice he offers people is, 鈥渨hat鈥檚 good for the heart is good for your head.鈥
Regular physical exercise appears to help people maintain mental sharpness. Healthy eating and controlling blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes is important. Socializing and intellectual stimulation can also play a protective role, he said.
And that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important to check in with older friends and relatives.
Some signs of aging are normal, such as misplacing your reading glasses or car keys; forgetting what you do with the glasses or car keys is not.
Repeatedly asking the same questions, forgetting where you are or how you got there, withdrawing from social activity and changes in grooming habits are other warning signs, according to the Alzheimer鈥檚 Association.
Soden said her grandfather developed dementia, which is often related to Alzheimer鈥檚, before his death. She knows the devastation that families feel.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 nothing worse than losing your mind,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou no longer recognize the people you love. My grandfather thought his sons were kidnappers holding him hostage. He became angry and completely withdrawn鈥攋ust a completely different person than the one we knew when we were younger.鈥
Barlis, a psychology major from New Jersey, and Soden, a neuroscience major from North Carolina, both plan to continue in research fields after graduation.
Do they ever see themselves finding a cure for Alzheimer鈥檚?
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating to think that billions of dollars have gone into research that keeps hitting a wall鈥攖hat can be demoralizing,鈥 Soden said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a reason to stop trying. My goal is to further our knowledge.鈥
Barlis smiles at the question.
鈥淣ot by myself,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to be just one person. But every contribution you make is a step in the right direction. I鈥檓 hopeful that I can contribute something.鈥
