Topic description and stories

Woman in cold water resting on the ice

Gene therapy approach to boost ‘cold shock protein’ in the brain without cooling protects mice against neurodegenerative disease

24 Mar 2023

Scientists in Cambridge and Berlin have used a form of gene therapy to increase levels of the so-called ‘cold shock protein’ in the brains of mice...

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Elderly person's hands

Scientists detect dementia signs as early as nine years ahead of diagnosis

13 Oct 2022

Cambridge scientists have shown that it may be possible to spot signs of brain impairment in patients as early as nine years before they receive a...

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Elderly woman in the middle stages of Alzheimer

Social isolation may impact brain volume in regions linked to higher risk of dementia

08 Jun 2022

Social isolation is linked to lower brain volume in areas related to cognition and a higher risk of dementia, according to research published today...

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Nurse taking care of elderly sick woman in wheelchair

‘Stressed’ cells offer clues to eliminating build-up of toxic proteins in dementia

06 May 2022

It’s often said that a little stress can be good for you. Now scientists have shown that the same may be true for cells, uncovering a newly-...

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Alarm clock at night

Seven hours of sleep is optimal in middle and old age, say researchers

28 Apr 2022

Seven hours is the ideal amount of sleep for people in their middle age and upwards, with too little or too much sleep associated with poorer...

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Older couple walking

Study suggests lithium may decrease risk of developing dementia

17 Mar 2022

Researchers have identified a link which suggests that lithium could decrease the risk of developing dementia, which affects nearly one million...

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Elderly couple

Dementia patients struggle to cope with change because of damage to general intelligence brain networks

08 Mar 2022

People with dementia struggle to adapt to changes in their environment because of damage to areas of the brain known as ‘multiple demand networks’...

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SumaLateral Whole Brain Image

Scientists identify the cause of Alzheimer’s progression in the brain

29 Oct 2021

For the first time, researchers have used human data to quantify the speed of different processes that lead to Alzheimer’s disease and found that it...

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Mini brain organoids showing cortical-like structures

Lab-grown ‘mini brains’ hint at treatments for neurodegenerative diseases

21 Oct 2021

Cambridge researchers have developed ‘mini brains’ that allow them to study a fatal and untreatable neurological disorder causing paralysis and...

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DNA jigsaw

New mechanism preventing toxic DNA lesions opens up therapeutic avenues for Huntington's disease

01 Sep 2021

A new mechanism that stops the progression of Huntington’s disease in cells has been identified by scientists at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge and UCL...

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AI could detect dementia years before symptoms appear

12 Aug 2021

Artificial intelligence could spot the early signs of dementia from a simple brain scan long before major symptoms appear – and in some cases before...

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Woman sleeping

Apathy could predict onset of dementia years before other symptoms

15 Dec 2020

Apathy – a lack of interest or motivation – could predict the onset of some forms of dementia many years before symptoms start, offering a ‘window of...

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