PET Scans Reveal Key Details of Alzheimer’s Protein Growth in Aging Brains

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New research shows that PET scans can track the progression of Alzheimer’s in cognitively normal adults. This key advance could potentially assist in early diagnosis and staging of the disease. During their study, scientists found information on two Alzheimer’s-linked proteins, tau and beta-amyloid, and how they relate to each other. “Braak staging was developed through data obtained from autopsies, but our study is the first to show the staging in people who are not only alive, but who have no signs of cognitive impairment,” said study principal investigator Dr. William Jagust, a professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and a faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “This opens the door to the use of PET scans as a diagnostic and staging tool.” To read more on this study, click here.

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