Down Syndrome Study Sheds Light on Alzheimers

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 22, 2014

New research suggests the quest to understand the mechanism by which Alzheimers disease impacts memory and cognition may be more complicated than previously understood.

University of Wisconsin researchers, including lead study author Sigan Hartley, Ph.D.,and Brad Christian, Ph.D., looked at the role of the brain protein amyloid-beta in adults living with Down syndrome, a genetic condition that leaves people more susceptible to developing Alzheimers.

As published in the journal Brain, their findings reveal more information about the earliest stages of the neurodegenerative disease.

Our hope is to better understand the role of this protein in memory and cognitive function, said Hartley.

With this information we hope to better understand the earliest stages in the development of this disease and gain information to guide prevention and treatment efforts.

However, the findings of their study not only may help scientists better understand the condition as it impacts those living with Down syndrome, but they are also relevant to adults without the genetic syndrome.

There are many unanswered questions about at what point amyloid-beta, together with other brain changes, begins to take a toll on memory and cognition and why certain individuals may be more resistant than others, says Hartley.

The University of Wisconsin, Madison scientists, along with collaborators at the University of Pittsburgh, studied 63 healthy adults with Down syndrome, aged 30 to 53, who did not exhibit clinical signs of Alzheimers or other forms of dementia.

They found that many adults with Down syndrome had high levels of amyloid-beta protein but did not suffer the expected negative consequences of the elevated protein.

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Down Syndrome Study Sheds Light on Alzheimers