Researchers
from Brown University and Banner Alzheimer’s Institute have found that infants
who are carriers of the gene associated with Alzheimer’s also have different brain
development than those who do not have the gene. The gene linked to Alzheimer’s
is APOE-E4.
After taking images of 162 healthy brains of infants between 2 and 25 months, researchers found that infants happened to have an increased growth in the frontal lobe and decreased growth in the middle and rear areas of the brain. Although these findings do not indicate that these infants will definitely have Alzheimer’s later in life, it shows that there is a difference in development from infants who do not have the gene for the disease.
In
discovering this difference in infant brains among those who are genetically
set up for Alzheimer’s enables us to better understand the disease and what is
happening. If we further our knowledge with studies such as these, we will be
able to better detect and possibly find better treatments for Alzheimer’s.
Original Article
Original Article
This article is really interesting! I did not know that there was a single gene that is associated to Alzheimer's disease. It is fascinating that researcher's are screening this gene not only beginning at middle to old age, when Alzheimer's first shows its signs, but all the way back to the infantile stages of the brain. The brain is probably one of the most mysterious aspects of the human body, so it's great to see that science is becoming more and more familiarized with it. This study gives hope to better screening and early detection of Alzheimer's disease. Also, parents who have infants with this gene can try and take precautionary and preventative steps against the disease. Ultimately I believe that this study will contribute to finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease.
ReplyDeleteAlzheimer's is usually associate with those who are aging, but this article makes an interesting connection to brain development during infancy. During infancy kids tend to absorb everything while as we get older our we tend to forget things. This could mean that the answer towards turning off the APOE-E4 gene linked to Alzheimer can be found in studying the difference during infant brain development.
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