Blog icon

17 July 2024 News Release

A significant discovery by Australian scientists has the potential to improve the effectiveness of drugs currently used to manage cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, which is the second leading cause of death in the country. It’s estimated 250 Australians are diagnosed with dementia every day. 

Led by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, the study compared data from 475 people with varying levels of cognitive impairment.  

The scientists looked at the level of amyloid plaques in the brain, the atrophying or shrinking of the basal forebrain, and cognitive decline (memory and attention). 

Dr Ying Xia, researcher at CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre and lead author of the study, said early diagnosis is critical to the management of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms.  

“Our results show how the atrophying of the basal forebrain, a key brain region for learning and memory and part of the cholinergic system, could indicate the presence of the disease well before symptoms occur,” Dr Xia said.  

“Our research suggests an important link between brain structure, in this case shrinkage, and the way the brain functions during Alzheimer’s disease progression.”  

These important findings may assist in the ongoing development of drugs to reduce the decline in the brain function seen in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.  

This could include work with drugs currently undergoing regulatory approval, which clear amyloid plaques from the brain, to amplify their cognitive effects. 

Dr Xia said new drugs to clear amyloid plaques hold promise, but it’s not yet known whether targeting these plaques address the underlying causes of memory and attention decline.

“Currently, drugs available to manage cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s are only effective in up to 30 per cent of cases,” said Dr Xia.

“We think we can improve on that figure, by increasing our understanding of the role played by the system targeted by the current drug treatment regimes."

The next stage of this research will involve identifying how early the impairment of the cholinergic system occurs and when to administer cholinergic drug treatments to stabilise cognitive decline.

Published in Neurology, the study was a collaboration between CSIRO, the University of Queensland, Florey Institute and the University of Melbourne.

The study used data from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL), collected over more than a decade.

AIBL involves comprehensive neuroimaging, biomarker and neuropsychological assessments at 18-month intervals and is a consortium between Austin Health, CSIRO, Edith Cowan University, The Florey Institute and the National Ageing Research Institute.

For dementia information and support please contact the National Dementia Helpline 1800 100 500. The National Dementia Helpline operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Images

The findings may assist in the ongoing development of drugs to reduce the decline in the brain function seen in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
New drugs to clear amyloid plaques hold promise, but it’s not yet known whether targeting these plaques address the underlying causes of memory and attention decline. 
MRI image noting subregions of the basal forebrain studied in the paper.
Dr Ying Xia, researcher at CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre.

Contact us

Find out how we can help you and your business. Get in touch using the form below and our experts will get in contact soon!

CSIRO will handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy.


This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google

Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

First name must be filled in

Surname must be filled in

I am representing *

Please choose an option

Please provide a subject for the enquriy

0 / 100

We'll need to know what you want to contact us about so we can give you an answer

0 / 1900

You shouldn't be able to see this field. Please try again and leave the field blank.