Alzheimer’s – these may be the first symptoms long before the disease. New study

Not only memory problems. The first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease may appear much earlier. “The effects of a receptor in the brain related to motivation and emotions lead to the death of neurons and disorders of the synaptic structure in people with Alzheimer’s disease,” report scientists from the Indiana University School of Medicine in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

1. Although Alzheimer’s disease is associated with the elderly, more and more scientists are pointing out that its early symptoms can appear as early as around forty
2. Now it has been found that long before memory problems, patients experience symptoms such as apathy and irritability.
3. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Alzheimer’s Disease – Which Areas of the Brain Does It Affect?

In their research, scientists focused on the nucleus accumbens (one of the basal ganglia) located in the striatum. This area is part of the reward system and affects motivation.

– There has been little interest in the nucleus accumbens as a structure associated with Alzheimer’s disease. They are mainly studied to understand motivational and emotional processes. Previous studies, however, found that the volume of the nucleus accumbens, as well as the cortical regions and the hippocampus, is reduced in Alzheimer’s patients, the authors note.

Even before the first cognitive decline appears, many people with Alzheimer’s disease experience mood swings, and often symptoms of depression.

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Apathy and irritability – the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s?

– However, neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as apathy and irritability, occur earlier than memory problems, so it is difficult to respond in time. Therefore, we need to understand why these symptoms appear and how they are related to cognitive deficits, emphasizes the author of the study, Dr. Yao-Ying Ma.

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By studying the Alzheimer’s disease model, scientists identified CP-AMPA (calcium ion permeable) receptors in the nucleus accumbens that are involved in rapid synaptic transmission. These receptors, usually absent in this part of the brain, allow calcium ions to enter nerve cells. Excess calcium, in turn, leads to disorders of synaptic functions and causes a number of intracellular changes that can cause neuronal death.

This loss of synaptic connections causes motivation problems. Thus, targeting and blocking CP-AMPA receptors could delay the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

– If we manage to delay pathological changes in one of the affected areas, for example in the nucleus accumbens, it may contribute to the delay of lesions in other areas as well – comments Dr. Ma.