More Brain Points

ALZHEIMERS 

Recently, various different neuroscientist have come to our seminar to demonstrate their great research, however, to me, two main researchers made a personal connection. Those two professors were Dr. Fernandez-Romero and Dr. Roy. What caught my attention from these two researchers, is that both study Alzheimer’s Disease. My family has a history with Alzheimer’s and so it was very interesting listening and reading about their findings. 

Before I proceed to discuss the work of Dr. Fernandez-Romero and Dr. Roy, it is important to note what Alzheimer’s truly is. Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that progressively deteriorates mental functions such as memory. Alzheimer’s usually has an onset at a later stage in life, usually middle to old age. As I learned in Dr. Fernandez-Romero’s lecture, Alzheimer’s used to be constantly confused with old age dementia. Scientist used to believe that as people grew old, they lost mental function progressively. However, this changed when Dr. Alois Alzheimer realized that this was an actual neurodegenerative disease, as it only occurred in some elderly people and not others. This discovery initiated the constant research to find the cure for Alzheimer’s. 

Although both studied revolved around Alzheimer’s disease, both have different perceptions on the disease. Alzheimer’s has been a recent topic in modern time, as it continued to grow in diagnosis. Recently, the Alzheimer’s association stated that Alzheimer’s is the 6^thleading cause of death in the United States and up to 5.7 million Americans are diagnosed with it. This being stated, it is important to further understand the biochemical aspect of what is occurring when Alzheimer’s develops.

In Dr. Roy’s study, he begins by discussion how the development of plaques in the brain, caused by the presences of a protein named amyloid beta, can be a indicator of Alzheimer’s. This development of plaque is caused by the cleavage of a protein named amyloid precursor protein (APP). The protein that cleaves APP is named BACE-1. Once APP is cleaved, it proceeds to develop amyloid beta, which as previously stated, induces plaque growth. According to the Alzheimer association, plaques can further proceed to block cell signaling at the synapse. Dr. Roy research was focused on the pathways of APP and BACE-1. He wanted to see if any dysregulation of these proteins in their pathway would further induce the production of plaques in neurons. Through his research, Dr. Roy was able to study specific regulators that are responsible in handling APP and BACE-1. As further research still needs to be composed, it is still important to understand the underlying biochemical aspect of Alzheimer’s.

As we further understand our biochemical understanding, it will give a further insight on how it affects the human body. In Dr. Fernandez-Romero’s research, he studied how Alzheimer patient respond to different virtual driving environments. He set up two different controls (young age group and old age group) and then the experimental group was early Alzheimer’s patients. All three groups then participated in a virtual driving test. Through this they experience various different stimulus. In his experiment, he used event related potentials, specifically N200, to measure the change in different environmental stimulus. What he was able to find with the N200 potentials was that, although Alzheimer patients performed well in the increments in motion, they had a significant change in their responsiveness to acceleration. Even compared to the old age group, the early Alzheimer patients had a lower response to the increment in speed. This shows how even at an early stage of Alzheimer’s, it still has an impact on your day to day life tasks.  

In 2017, the New York Times released an article titled, “What if You Knew Alzheimer’s Was Coming for You?”Which discusses various topics about Alzheimer’s disease. The article began with a story of Julie Gregory, she was caught off guard when she was diagnosed with having two recessive genes that could lead to Alzheimer’s. She was diagnoses when she had her gene sequenced to see if why she had poor circulation. Unfortunately, the test demonstrated her having a gene ApoE4 that is linked to the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. The article continued to proceed with various stories on how people who have a high possibility to obtain Alzheimer have been reacting to their potential diagnosis. The article underlying message is diagnosis. No one knows if someone is truly going to obtain Alzheimer’s until plaques actually being to build up. However, many people are not even aware that they are at risk of Alzheimer’s just like how Julie was unaware. As one could notice in Dr. Roy’s research, diagnosis is not truly set and stone, as the pathways for various proteins are still being developed. However, because this field is still developing, simple pretesting is not available for the average person. In the article we learn that to find out whether a person is at risk for plaque development, they have to go through a PET scan or a spinal tap, which imposes high risk and cost. Philanthropists such as Bill Gates, have begun to donate money to further biochemical research, such as Dr. Roy’s, to develop a more accessible test for the average person. We continue to see in the article how a young woman also found out she was at risk for Alzheimer’s. She talked about how she had to change her life style to adapt to her potential disease. She even gave further insight on how her father, a neurologist, had to change his lifestyle as well. This brings up the importance of Dr. Fernandez-Romero’s research. As stated previously, his research focused on the changes that patients goes through when they preform day to day activity such as driving. It is important for people to be able to adequately and affordably determine whether they are at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. As studies such as Dr. Fernandez-Romero have shown, it imposes a very dangerous situation to people who have early Alzheimer’s, and with lack of diagnosis, it could lead them to damage their health in the future. Overall, I think that I have a better understanding of what Alzheimer’s is due to these two great researchers and as time proceeds, further information will be known to how to deal and cure this disease.