Research published in Nature - The two brain proteins previously known to play major roles in dementia diseases: beta-amyloid plaques (seen in brown) and tau (seen in blue) in the brain. Credit: National Institute on Aging, NIH, on Flickr
Research published in Nature - The two brain proteins previously known to play major roles in dementia diseases: beta-amyloid plaques (seen in brown) and tau (seen in blue) in the brain. Credit: National Institute on Aging, NIH, on Flickr - A well-known gene that increases Alzheimer's risk, called APOE4, has now been linked with better visual working memory in older adults, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. Joint senior author Professor Jonathan Schott (Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) said: "We have long known that possession of an APOE4 risk gene increases risk for Alzheimer's disease, but the exact mechanism by which it does so remains uncertain. "Our finding - from a sample of individuals from across mainland Britain who were all born in the same week in 1946 - that carrying an APOE4 gene was associated with better visual memory may provide clues to why this gene variant is so common. Understanding why APOE4 might result in better memory, may also help us to understand why it also leads to increased risk for Alzheimer's disease." Our DNA code is the blueprint for our biology. It holds the information needed to make specific proteins, which allow our bodies to function. Sometimes the DNA code can contain changes that increase our likelihood of getting a disease.
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