What benefits a spotless mind has?

Alzheimer`s disease is an illness related to memory which consists of Aβ protein which surrounds neurons in the brain. A team of researchers, including Takaomi Saido and Per Nilsson from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute discovered that autophagy plays a significant role in Aβ secretion and thus, Alzheimer`s can be prevented. The team of researchers used mice for this investigation, as Alzheimer`s models. Surprisingly, they discovered that these mice had a lower Aβ level. The final results prove that autophagy is needed for the secretion of Aβ proteins. Mice with defective autophagy presented degenerated brain structures, sick neurons and worse memory and learning functions. This is how they state that autophagy is important for maintaining normal neuron function. “Intraneuronal Aβ accumulation is seen in early Alzheimer's disease in humans, similar to what we found upon autophagy deletion in mice. Targeting this pool of Aβ may therefore offer a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease”, Nilsson says.