Rebecca L. Dyer

3 weeks ago | sciencealert.com | Rebecca L. Dyer

The risk of getting dementia may go up as you get older if you don't get enough slow-wave sleep. A 2023 study found that over-60s are 27 percent more likely to develop dementia if they lose just 1 percent of this deep sleep each year. Slow-wave sleep is the third stage of a human 90-minute sleep cycle, lasting about 20–40 minutes. It's the most restful stage, where brain waves and heart rate slow and blood pressure drops.

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Rebecca L. Dyer

The risk of getting dementia may go up as you get older if you don't get enough slow-wave sleep. A 2023 study found that over-60s are 27 percent more likely to develop dementia if they lose just 1 percent of this deep sleep each year. Slow-wave sleep is the third stage of a human 90-minute sleep cycle, lasting about 20–40 minutes. It's the most restful stage, where brain waves and heart rate slow and blood pressure drops.

Mar 4, 2025 | sciencealert.com | Rebecca L. Dyer

Analysis of human brain tissue revealed differences in how immune cells behave in brains with Alzheimer's disease compared to healthy brains, indicating a potential new treatment target. University of Washington-led research, published in 2023, discovered microglia in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease were in a pre-inflammatory state more frequently, making them less likely to be protective.

Jan 19, 2025 | sciencealert.com | Rebecca L. Dyer

Researchers have discovered how a cell surface protein called Aplp1 can play a role in spreading material responsible for Parkinson's disease from cell-to-cell in the brain. Promisingly, an FDA-approved cancer drug that targets another protein called Lag3 – which interacts with Aplp1 – blocks the spread in mice, suggesting a potential therapy may already exist.

Dec 17, 2024 | sciencealert.com | Rebecca L. Dyer

Driving an ambulance or taxi as your job may provide some protection against Alzheimer's, according to a new study that discovered these occupations have the lowest rates of death associated with the disease. Researchers analyzed US death certificates for almost 9 million people who died during 2020–2022, linking occupational data across 443 professions with Alzheimer's as a cause of death.