Philadelphia, PA, 15 March 2010 - The emergence of multiple new
brain imaging technologies and the combined application of these
new approaches is helping to create new insights into aging and
Alzheimer's disease. One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease
is the deposition of amyloid beta protein in clumps or "plaques"
within the brain. These plaques can be measured in humans with
PET scans that use a chemical marker or radiotracer called
11C-PIB. It was long thought that the formation of plaques
injured and perhaps even caused the death of nerve cells in the
brain. Recent studies, however, suggest that a form of the
amyloid beta protein that is soluble rather than the form that
is deposited in plaques mediates most of the destructive impact
of this protein. In a new study published in Biological
Psychiatry, by Elsevier, researchers have related the findings
that are emerging from PET-PIB imaging to changes in the
function of brain circuits. Sheline and colleagues examined
Alzheimer's disease patients and c