Gene yields insights into the causes of neurodegeneration

dementia
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Across the globe, approximately 50 million people are living with dementia. The two most common forms are Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which develop when neurons in specific parts of the brain stop functioning—triggering memory loss and other behavioral or personality changes.

Without a cure, the World Health Organization predicts that number could rise by as many as 10 million cases per year. However, predicting the onset of these diseases is tricky because neurodegeneration can start years before people present any outward symptoms.

Cornell researchers including Fenghua Hu, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and…

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