A recent study led by Tel Aviv University doctoral student Shiri Shoob and researchers from two Israeli universities suggests that inhibiting neuronal activity in the brain’s sleep-regulating region may prevent memory deterioration in Alzheimer’s, based on an animal model. The research proposes a method for early detection of Alzheimer’s up to two decades before symptoms manifest. Physiological changes, such as amyloid-beta deposits, abnormal tau protein accumulations, and hippocampal volume decrease, were observed 10-20 years before noticeable cognitive decline. Interestingly, about 30% of individuals with postmortem evidence of Alzheimer’s pathology did not exhibit typical symptoms during their lifetime, indicating the brain’s limited ability to self-protect against the disease.

Two years prior, researchers from Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Medicine and Segol School of Neuroscience discovered increased hippocampal activity during anesthesia and sleep in an animal model. This heightened activity was linked to damage in the neural network stabilization mechanism, shedding light on a potential pathological brain phenomenon related to Alzheimer’s. Read more here