Imaging Early Alzheimer's

Knowing early signs of any disease offers advantages in slowing and preventing debilitating symptoms.  With Alzheimer’s, investigators have discovered DNA mutations that are predictive in some but not all cases.  At Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, graduate student Sarah George studied the brain scans of several dozen people-all of whom presented mild cognitive impairment, with a subset going on to A.D.  She discovered that a thinning of neurons in three areas of the cortex associated with memory and attention was an accurate predictor of mild impairment proceeding to Alzheimer’s-thus opening the possibility of imaging diagnosis.             MORE

Image Credit: Sarah George, Rush University and Technology Review