Grant: Project Grant

The past decade has seen both frustration and hope in the field of Alzheimer disease research. Failures of dozens of drug-based clinical trials have highlighted that there are major gaps in our basic understanding of how this disease develops. In contrast, exciting lifestyle-based interventions such as diet and exercise can be effective in helping to combat cognitive decline. Indeed, it is estimated that as much as 40% of the risk for developing Alzheimer's and other dementias can be attributed to lifestyle factors. What this illustrates is that the body can play a pivotal role in determining whether the brain is affected by Alzheimer's disease. In this project, we focus on defects that we have recently identified in how the Alzheimer brain processes lipids (fats). We will attempt to manipulate the communication between brain and body in a way that can correct these defects in brain lipid processing. Since our past experiments have shown that correcting brain lipid processing can reverse learning and memory loss in an animal model of Alzheimer's, we hope these studies will lead to new, clinically relevant strategies for treating this disease.