Living research tool
The Research Index
Papers, trials, talks and ideas behind the newsletter, each in plain words, with where it stands and a link to the original source.
26 entries
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People · research tool
Study · Journals
A blood-test “clock” estimates when Alzheimer’s symptoms will start
p‑tau217 is a protein in the blood that reflects Alzheimer’s changes in the brain. A WashU Medicine team built models that turn one p‑tau217 measurement into an estimated time until symptoms, and in two groups of research volunteers the estimates were typically off by 3 to 4 years. Age set the pace: crossing the test’s threshold at 60 came with about 20 years of warning, at 80 about 11. Where it stands: a research tool for choosing prevention-trial volunteers. Not yet precise enough for one person’s forecast.
People · research tool -
Mice · human cells
Study · Institutions
A cheap seizure drug kept neurons from making the stickiest amyloid, in mice and human cells
Levetiracetam is an inexpensive prescription drug for seizures. A Northwestern team found it slows how neurons recycle parts of themselves, steering them away from making amyloid-beta 42, the form that clumps into plaques. It worked in mice and in human cells, and the researchers say it would have to start years before symptoms. Where it stands: lab and mouse work. Not a reason to start or stop the drug.
Mice · human cells -
People · association
Study · Institutions
A lifetime of reading and learning came with a later Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Rush University followed 1,939 older adults and scored their “lifetime enrichment”: books at home as a child, a library card in midlife, puzzles and games later on. The top tenth were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 94 on average, against 88 for the bottom tenth. Their donated brains didn’t have fewer plaques and tangles, but their thinking held up better near the end of life. Where it stands: an association, partly based on childhood memories recalled decades later.
People · association -
People · research tool
Study · Journals
Alzheimer’s blood tests held up in six Latin American countries
Most blood-test research for dementia comes from high-income countries, and a test is only as good as the people it was checked on. In 605 people from the ReDLat network in six Latin American countries, four blood markers helped tell apart Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia, a type that often changes behavior first. Adding brain scans and memory tests raised accuracy further. Where it stands: a research result, widening the evidence behind tests already in use.
People · research tool -
Regulator · recall
Story · Institutions
FDA recall: some Lumipulse blood-test cartridges gave falsely high results
On 5 February 2026 the FDA posted a recall of four batches of cartridges for Fujirebio’s Lumipulse blood test, which looks for signs of amyloid buildup. Some gave falsely high results, and labs were told to review earlier results where needed. The Alzheimer’s Association’s guideline already says some positive blood tests should be confirmed with a brain scan or spinal fluid test after a full check-up. Where it stands: a reminder that one blood test is never the whole picture.
Regulator · recall -
People · association
Study · Institutions
Lead stored in bone tracked with Alzheimer’s risk; lead in blood did not
The body keeps lead in bone for decades, so bone lead is a record of a lifetime’s exposure, while blood lead mostly shows the last few weeks. In US health surveys linked to Medicare, older Americans with the most estimated bone lead had nearly three times the Alzheimer’s risk of those with the least; blood lead showed no link. Bone lead was estimated by computer models, not measured. Where it stands: an association in people, not proof of cause. Removing old lead from paint, pipes and soil protects the next generation.
People · association -
People · association
Study · Journals
Medical records show more than 70 conditions in the decade before an Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Vanderbilt researchers searched two large sets of electronic health records and found more than 70 conditions that were more common in the ten years before an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, including depression, sleep problems and high blood pressure. Where it stands: a pattern that could improve risk forecasts. It doesn’t show that any one condition causes Alzheimer’s.
People · association -
People · randomized trial
Trial · Institutions
Speed training in the 1990s came with fewer dementia diagnoses 20 years later
The ACTIVE trial randomly assigned 2,802 people aged 65 and over to memory, reasoning or speed training, or none, and followed them through Medicare records. Two decades on, 40 percent of those who had speed training plus a few top-up sessions had a dementia diagnosis, against 49 percent with no training. The other kinds of training made no measurable difference. Where it stands: one result among more than 20 comparisons, so it needs a trial built to test it. A later version of the task is sold commercially.
People · randomized trial -
Explainer
Video · YouTube
Study finds brain training games may help protect against dementia
An NBC News segment on the 20-year speed-training result from the ACTIVE trial. Worth knowing as you watch: only speed training with top-up sessions made a difference, not brain games in general.
Explainer -
People · brain donors
Study · Journals
SuperAgers’ brains held more young nerve cells
SuperAgers are people over 80 whose memory matches people decades younger. In donated brains, a University of Illinois Chicago team found roughly twice as many young nerve cells in their hippocampus, the region that forms memories, as in typical older adults. Where it stands: only 6 SuperAgers were studied, so the difference could still be chance.
People · brain donors -
Mice
Study · Institutions
Switching off the enzyme IDOL in neurons cut plaques in mice
IDOL is an enzyme that helps control how cells handle fats and related proteins. At Indiana University, removing it from the neurons of mice bred with human Alzheimer’s genes lowered plaques and APOE, a protein tied to Alzheimer’s risk. The team had expected the brain’s immune cells to matter most, not neurons. Where it stands: mouse work. No drug targets IDOL yet.
Mice -
People · research tool
Study · Science news
A mailed finger-prick blood test tracked p‑tau217
p‑tau217 is a protein in the blood that signals Alzheimer’s. A study of 337 people at seven European centers found that a dried finger-prick sample, mailed without refrigeration, closely matched a standard blood draw and picked up the Alzheimer’s changes seen in spinal fluid with 86 percent accuracy. Where it stands: a research tool, not a test you can order.
People · research tool -
Mice
Study · Journals
A protein released by tumors cleared plaques in mice
People with cancer are less often diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. A 2026 mouse study offers one possible reason: tumors released cystatin C, a protein that reached the brain and prompted its immune cells, microglia, to break down amyloid plaques. Where it stands: mouse results. The interest is in the protein as a drug lead, not in cancer itself.
Mice -
People · not peer-reviewed
Study · Organizations
Amyloid in brain blood vessel walls linked to higher five-year dementia risk
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is amyloid building up in the walls of the brain’s small blood vessels. In insurance records covering nearly 2 million Americans, people diagnosed with it had about four times the rate of dementia within five years. Where it stands: a conference presentation, not yet peer-reviewed.
People · not peer-reviewed -
Explainer
Video · YouTube
Blood-based biomarkers in Alzheimer’s
A short explainer on what the new Alzheimer’s blood tests measure, and why they are meant for people who already have memory symptoms.
Explainer -
Mice
Study · Journals
Calcium alpha-ketoglutarate restored memory connections in mice
Calcium alpha-ketoglutarate (CaAKG) is a molecule the body makes naturally and has been studied for healthy aging. In Alzheimer’s-model mice it restored synaptic plasticity, the strengthening of connections that memory depends on, and associative memory. Where it stands: mouse and brain-slice work. No Alzheimer’s trial in people.
Mice -
People · strong evidence
Study · Organizations
Higher body weight raises vascular dementia risk, largely through blood pressure
A 2026 genetic study of people in Denmark and the UK used inherited differences in body weight to test cause and effect. Each step up in genetically predicted weight raised the odds of vascular-related dementia by about 63 percent, and high blood pressure was the main route. Where it stands: strong evidence for a risk factor that medicine can already treat.
People · strong evidence -
People · brain donors
Study · Institutions
Only the most severe CTE was clearly tied to dementia
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is brain damage from repeated head impacts, graded in stages. In 614 donated brains, people with the most severe stage were 4.5 times as likely to have had dementia in life, and stage III was also linked, while the mildest stages showed no measurable link. Where it stands: a large NIH-funded brain-donation study.
People · brain donors -
Explainer
Podcast · News and radio
Some people’s brains resist Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
NPR’s Short Wave on what 25 years of Northwestern’s SuperAging Program has learned about people 80 or older with the memory of someone decades younger.
Explainer -
People · genetics
Study · Institutions
Super agers are less likely to carry APOE4
Super agers are people 80 or older whose memory matches someone decades younger. A 2026 Vanderbilt-led study found they were 68 percent less likely than people with Alzheimer’s to carry APOE4, the best-known risk gene, and more likely to carry the protective APOE2. Where it stands: a genetic association that helps explain resilience, not a test or a treatment.
People · genetics -
People · association
Study · Institutions
Weak daily rest-activity rhythms linked to higher dementia risk
Researchers tracked older adults’ daily cycles of rest and activity with a chest-worn heart monitor for about 12 days. Those with the weakest rhythms had about 2.5 times the dementia risk of those with the strongest, and a later afternoon peak in activity also carried more risk. Where it stands: an association in people, not proof that rhythms cause dementia.
People · association -
Explainer
Video · YouTube
What Sleep Does to Your Brain
A short University of Rochester explainer on how the brain flushes out waste during sleep, from the lab that first described the system.
Explainer -
People · trials under way
Trial · Science news
Cobenfy for psychosis in Alzheimer’s: results expected from early 2027
Cobenfy, a pill that pairs xanomeline with trospium, is approved for schizophrenia. Bristol Myers Squibb’s three ADEPT trials test it against the hallucinations and delusions many people with Alzheimer’s experience, and nothing is yet approved for that. In July 2026 the company moved results from all three trials into 2027, citing slow enrollment, after dropping data from a few sites over irregularities in December 2025. Where it stands: large trials in people, results pending.
People · trials under way -
Lab · human cells
Study · Journals
A protein complex that helps neurons dispose of tau
CRL5–SOCS4 is a protein complex that helps a neuron get rid of tau before tau forms tangles. A 2026 UCSF and UCLA study found it with a gene-by-gene search in lab-grown human neurons, and donated brains backed it up. Where it stands: a lab discovery. No drug targets it yet.
Lab · human cells -
Mice · trial registered
Practice · Journals
Microdose lithium orotate moves from Nature into caregiver threads
Every brain holds a natural trace of lithium. A 2025 Harvard study found less of it in brains with Alzheimer’s, starting before dementia, and in mice a low dose of lithium orotate restored memory. Where it stands: mouse results, with a first small safety trial in people registered (NCT07459959). Not a reason to take a supplement.
Mice · trial registered -
People · approved
Trial · Other
Leqembi can now be started with an injection at home
Leqembi slows early Alzheimer’s by clearing amyloid from the brain. On 13 July 2026 the FDA approved Leqembi Iqlik, an under-the-skin injection, for starting treatment, not just for keeping it going, and the autoinjector became available in the US on 24 August. The brain scans and checks for swelling and bleeding still come with it. Where it stands: approved.
People · approved