In this month's episode of AMiNDR, Cassi recaps papers on APOE published in August 2022. Cassi just defended her dissertation where she studied immunometabolism in the context of APOE. She starts with cells, moves to mice, and finishes with human research studies.

Today, we have papers on behavioural and cognitive changes in Alzheimer’s disease. We’ve got our usual sections such as rodent models and sleep, but we also have some new topics, including cognitive reserve and even a paper on virtual reality. You’re in for a treat!

Sections in this episode:

Behavioural Changes (2:28)

Cognitive Changes (11:10)

After a bit of a break, Elyn is excited to be back with the latest in the field of vascular contributions to Alzheimer disease. With the current (and constant) controversy in the field about targeting amyloid as a disease-modifying therapy, perhaps it's time we turned to a new target: the vasculature. Tune in for an overview of papers published in August 2022, including lots of nitric oxide signalling, animal model characterization, white matter hyperintensities and their relevant associations, and much more!

Sections in this episode:

Vascular Remodeling and Nitric Oxide Signaling (3:36)

White Matter Hyperintensities and Enlarged Perivascular Spaces (9:03)

Mechanistic Insight in the Cerebrovascular Endothelium (15:22)

Overlap with Other Diseases and Treatment Avenues (20:22)

To kick off our series on August papers, we will talk all about different ways that synaptic transmission may be affected in Alzheimer's disease, with 6 research papers that use either cell models, animal models, or human patients. Stay tuned!

Sections in this episode:

Cortical signaling in rodent models (3:15)

New AD models (8:32)

Biomarkers of neural dysfunction in humans (9:24)

In Part 2 of Cognitive and Behavioural Changes, Naila covers 8 papers on neuropsychiatric, social and cognitive symptoms linked to Alzheimer's disease, and their implications for diagnosis and disease management. You'll learn about the links between AD and depression, the importance of social networks, and machine learning methods for identifying important lifestyle information from clinical notes. Enjoy!

Neuropsychiatric Changes (2:11)

Cognitive Changes (10:25)

Statistics and Machine Learning (17:05)

In this episode, Naila will guide you through 14 papers on potential neuroprotective factors to mitigate the risk of Alzheimer's disease, non-pharmacological interventions that could directly target Alzheimer's pathology, and strategies for symptom management. You'll hear about the role of embodiment in memory, light therapy technologies, the role of diet, and a few molecular pathways underlying the effects of exercise and neuronal stimulation.

Sections in this episode:

Cognitive and affective training (2:49)

Physical exercise (14:27)

Nutrition and diet (23:45)

Neuromodulatory techniques (28:06)

This is an episode all about targeting synaptic and neuronal heath in Alzheimer's disease. Anusha will cover in silico, in vitro, and in vivo studies of candidate compounds that target neuroprotection and neurogenesis. Be sure to check out this paper to stay up to day on the latest preclinical therapeutics being tested.

Sections in this episode:

In silico and treatment development (3:24)

Targeting Neurogenesis (7:07)

Targeting Neuroprotection (12:00)

In this episode exploring the effect of allelic variation of APOE, we review abstracts from large human GWAS studies all the way down to new mouse models expressing the human ApoE proteins. There are some particularly interesting abstracts on protection from cognitive decline despite having a risk allele for Alzheimer's disease. These are great studies to open the door for future research in this field!

Sections in this episode:

Human Research (2:58)

Mice Research (15:53)

Part 1 of our cognitive and behavioural changes category will focus on papers that explore behavioural and sensory processing deficits in AD. Topics range from motor impairments to visual and olfactory processing in both human patients and mouse models of AD. If you're curious about how AD patients process the facial expression of pain, then this is the episode for you!

Sections in this episode:

Behavioural Changes (2:39)

Visual Processing (6:23)

Olfaction (9:20)

Pain and Emotional Processing in AD (12:19)

Elyn is back to discuss the latest research on vascular contributions to Alzheimer disease! Tune in to hear about proteomic changes with amyloid deposition in the vasculature, new therapeutic avenues, and a more detailed account of the perivascular space. If you're interested in factors beyond amyloid and tau in the Alzheimer disease pathology, this is a great place to start!

Sections in this episode:

Cardiovascular Risk Factors (3:45)

White Matter Hyperintensities (8:51)

Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy and the Blood-Brain Barrier (15:47)

Therapeutic Avenues (24:00)