News Briefs: Early AD Symptoms; DNA’s Link to Depression; tACS’ Effect on Memory
Changes in Behavior May Indicate Early Alzheimer’s Disease
Scientists have developed a “checklist” of behavior changes that appear to be early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Traditionally, declining memory and thinking skills have been associated with the onset of the disease, but new evidence suggests that mild behavioral impairment might also signal the neurodegenerative disease. Behaviors in the checklist are persistent, rather than occasional, and represent changes in a person’s way of functioning, according to a paper presented July 24, 2016 at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto. The checklist identifies five types of mild behavioral impairment. They consist of: decreased motivation, loss of interest in things once enjoyed, apathy; emotional or mood symptoms, such as irritability, anxiety, or depression; problems socializing, such as loss of empathy, or withdrawal; loss of impulse control, such as angry outbursts, or obsessiveness; and disturbed perception, such as delusions or hallucinations. The study authors reported that in a test of 282 older adults at a memory clinic, 82 percent of participants showed signs of at least one behavioral impairment. While no treatments have been devised to target mild behavioral impairment, the researchers suggested that some individuals might respond to a change of environment that reduces a source of distress, or to medications, such as antidepressant or anti-anxiety drugs.
DNA Linked to Depression is Identified
An MGH scientist and his colleagues have found 15 regions of human DNA that are associated with depression. The research, led by Roy Perlis, MD, MSC, and published online Aug. 1, 2016 in Nature Genetics, involved the analysis of information on more than 300,000 people, 75,000 of whom had received a diagnosis of or treatment for depression. The scientists found 15 areas of DNA with 17 distinct sites that appeared to be strongly associated with heightened risk for depression. The findings are important both because they point the way to possible treatment targets and because they resulted from a new type of genetic study that used large data sets to identify problem genes. “Finding genes associated with depression should help make clear that this is a brain disease, which we hope will decrease the stigma still associated with these kinds of illnesses,” Dr. Perlis said.
Zapping the Brain During Sleep Found to Improve Memory
Sending small pulses of electricity through key areas of the brain while an individual sleeps at night has been found to improve memory for information the person learned that day. Researchers tried the technique—called transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)—on a small group of volunteers who had learned word pairs and finger-tapping sequences. At night, participants were fitted with electrodes at specific points on their skulls and went to bed. Half of the group received sham treatments, while the other half was zapped with mild electric currents during their sleep. The next morning, participants were tested again on their memory of the word-pairing and finger-tapping exercises. According to a paper published July 28 in Current Biology, zapping the brain resulted in little improvement on the word-pairing test, but significant gains in memory for the finger-tapping sequence, suggesting that electrical stimulation had strengthened memory for the motor activity. Next, the researchers are hoping to test their memory-boosting procedure on people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Addiction Breakthrough Use Implant to Reduce Dependence
Scientists have succeeded in improving resistance to cravings for opioid drugs among drug-dependent individuals by using implants containing long-acting anti-addiction drugs. The implants are embedded in the upper arm, replacing the standard treatment of a daily pill. Results showed that the implants, which release a steady dose of an anti-addiction drug called buprenorphine, were twice as effective as a daily pill. While 28 percent of participants taking pills returned to abusing heroin or prescription painkillers, only 14 percent of participants who used the implants relapsed, according to a paper published July 19, 2016 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The implant is thought to reduce fluctuations that occur when taking an oral medication that can trigger temptation.
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