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Only a small proportion of cases of dementia are thought to be inherited – the cause of the vast majority is unknown. Now, in a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, a team of scientists led by researchers at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge believe they may have found an explanation: spontaneous errors in our DNA that arise as cells divide and replicate.

Researchers have developed a new way to target the toxic particles that destroy healthy brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease. 

Researchers have shown how cholesterol – a molecule normally linked with cardiovascular diseases – may also play an important role in the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Scientists have identified the molecular mechanism that leads to the death of neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or motor neurone disease) and a common form of frontotemporal dementia.

Recent advances in brain imaging have enabled scientists to show for the first time that a key protein which causes nerve cell death spreads throughout the brain in Alzheimer’s disease – and hence that blocking its spread may prevent the disease from taking hold.

̽»¨Ö±²¥theory that education protects against Alzheimer’s disease has been given further weight by new research from the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge, funded by the European Union. ̽»¨Ö±²¥study is published today in ̽»¨Ö±²¥BMJ.

A ‘brain training’ game developed by researchers at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge could help improve the memory of patients in the very earliest stages of dementia, suggests a study published today in ̽»¨Ö±²¥International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Researchers at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge have designed antibodies that target the protein deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and stop their production. 

A team of scientists who a few years ago identified a major pathway that leads to brain cell death in mice, have now found two drugs that block the pathway and prevent neurodegeneration. ̽»¨Ö±²¥drugs caused minimal side effects in the mice and one is already licensed for use in humans, so is ready for clinical trials.

̽»¨Ö±²¥ ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge has been announced as one of the centres that will form the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) alongside Cardiff ̽»¨Ö±²¥, the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Edinburgh, Imperial College London and King’s College London.