A new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience by UCI School of Medicine researchers explores how AD affects the brain’s wiring, concentrating on a specific brain area called the subiculum, one of the first brain areas impacted by AD. This opens the door to exciting, innovative treatments for AD that focus on the possibility of repairing impaired brain circuitry rather than changing brain chemistry.
Led by Xiangmin Xu, PhD, a UCI Chancellor’s Professor of anatomy and neurobiology and director of the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM), the research team utilized an advanced technique known as monosynaptic rabies viral tracing in a mouse model of AD and normal mice to track how brain connections to the subiculum change with age, as well as between males and females. The study revealed that these connections, particularly those from areas involved in learning and memory, changed differently for males and females and with age, suggesting that AD may disrupt the brain’s networks in complex ways that contribute to memory and learning problems. These findings are in general agreement with the understudied observation that AD impacts male and female AD patients differently.
“Our study is the first to use a novel viral genetic tool to map neuronal circuit changes of the subiculum in AD,” said Xu. “Because circuit defects in AD occur long before symptoms, AD treatments may be more effective by addressing the disease earlier.”
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