Health News ‘Perforant Path’ Could Be The Key To Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
(RTTNews) – Researchers at the University of California at Irvine have discovered a new part of the human brain that may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
After studying a pool of subjects between the ages of 18 and 89, the researchers identified a portion of the brain called the perforant path. This collection of nerve tissue is believed to deteriorate with age and breakdown much more quickly for those with Alzheimer’s.
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research teams says that studying the perforant path could help diagnose Alzheimer’s earlier than ever before.
“The nice thing about this is we may be able to predict Alzheimer’s very early,” Craig Stark, associate professor of neurobiology & behavior at UC-Irvine, tells Science Daily.
He adds that the breakthrough could have implications for the development of Alzheimer’s treatments as well.
“Let’s say you’re a drug company, and you think you’ve got a potentially effective treatment for slowing Alzheimer’s. You want to try it on people in the most preliminary stages of that disease, not those just experiencing normal aging.”
by RTT Staff Writer
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