Spread of Alzheimer’s

Path Is Found for the Spread of Alzheimer’s

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

From left, Li Liu, Scott A. Small and Karen Duff examining a mouse brain. Dr. Small and Dr. Duff used mice to study Alzheimer's.

By GINA KOLATA

Published: February 1, 2012

Alzheimer’s disease seems to spread like an infection from brain cell to brain cell, two new studies in mice have found. But instead of viruses or bacteria, what is being spread is a distorted protein known as tau.

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In Alzheimer’s, a Tangled Protein

Related

• Health Guide: Alzheimer's Disease

The surprising finding answers a longstanding question and has immediate implications for developing treatments, researchers said. And they suspect that other degenerative brain diseases like Parkinson’s may spread in a similar way./.../