In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, sufferers typically aren’t aware that they are ill, and neither are their loved ones. This is generally a symptom-free stage of the disease, but new research claims that our brain’s synapses, or the connections that help us form memories and learn things, are slowly dying at that point.
A study from the University of New South Wales in Australia explains that synapse loss, or the loss of the connections between brain neurons, is a key feature of Alzheimer’s disease. According to lead author Dr. Vladimir Sytnyk from the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, synapse loss is one of Alzheimer’s first changes, happening very early into the disease and long before the death of our nerve cells.
Syntyk and his colleagues examined a brain protein called NCAM2, or neural cell adhesion molecule 2 – this is just one protein in a larger group that connects synapse membranes, thus maintaining connections between neurons. Based on the team’s analysis of brain tissue from deceased people who had Alzheimer’s and those who didn’t, it was shown that synaptic levels of NCAM2 in the hippocampus were at low levels in those who had the disease. Through a separate study of mice, Sytnyk’s team found that NCAM2 was broken down by beta-amyloid proteins, or the unusual buildup in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
“We have identified a new molecular mechanism, which directly contributes to this synapse loss,” said Sytnyk, “a discovery we hope could eventually lead to earlier diagnosis of the disease and new treatments.”
Additionally, Sytnyk stressed that this discovery could be very important, as it could “open up a new avenue for research on possible treatments that can prevent the destruction of NCAM2 in the brain.”