News and Announcements

Tamar D. Gefen, PhD of the Mesulam Center was awarded the NACC-Sponsored New Investigator Project Award. Her project titled, "Clinicopathologic substrates of dementia syndromes with FTLD-tau," looks to disentangle the complex relationship between dementia syndromes, anatomic atrophy, cell death, and a specific form of FTLD, known as FTLD-tau. This is one of the first works of its kind that aims to establish clinical, anatomic, and pathologic concordance of high specificity between clinical dementia syndromes and the tauopathies that cause them. Outcomes of this multidisciplinary study will clarify the pathologic underpinnings of clinical heterogeneity in dementias, sharpen our understanding of the principles of selective vulnerability, and are highly relevant for the development of tauopathy-specific diagnostic tools and treatments.

Doctors have newly outlined a type of dementia that could be more common than Alzheimer's among the oldest adults, according to a report published Tuesday in the journal Brain. Dr. Sandra Weintraub, of the Mesulam Center, affirms the heterogeneity of dementia.

An experimental treatment originally intended to help patients recover from stroke may have beneficial effects for Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent study.

More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, including 230,000 in Illinois. By 2050, that number is projected to rise to nearly 14 million Americans, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. There is no cure for the neurodegenerative condition, symptoms of which include memory loss, difficulty completing daily tasks and challenges in planning or solving problems. Many clinical trials are focused on prevention or disease-modifying therapies, which tend to exclude people who are already experiencing symptoms, says Northwestern University neurologist Dr. Ian Grant. While those types of therapies could eventually lead to a cure, Grant says it’s also important to study therapies that alleviate symptoms. The T2 Protect AD study seeks to do just that.

Eating right, exercising, and getting a good night’s sleep can all help us stay healthy. But can participating in the arts also help us thrive as we age? Researchers are looking at singing groups, theater training, and visual arts for older adults to see if the arts may improve the health, well-being, and independence of older people.In this article, learn about how several studies are having a positive impact on participants including the Mesulam Center's Memory Ensemble co-founded by Darby Morhardt, PhD.

The 8th Annual Les Turner Symposium brought together investigators, clinicians, patients and families to share the latest discoveries in ALS research, promote scientific collaboration and provide patient education.

Despite decades of research and lack of a treatment to cure or slow the progression of the disease, researchers, caregivers and advocates are optimistic about the future. “I see a treatment, it’s going to happen. Scientists are very close,” said William Klein, a professor at Northwestern University. “I believe we’re on a positive path,” said Harry John, CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association. “We’ve got a lot to do but we’re on a positive path.”

Intrigued by the potantial benefits, Dr. Borna Bonakdarpour, a neurologist with Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, put together a music therapy study this spring at Silverado Orchard Park Memory Care Community in Morton Grove. Each week for 12 weeks, the Evanston-based nonprofit Institute for Therapy Through the Arts held concerts for 10 Silverado residents. The musicians are specially trained to apply their skills to therapy, often by interacting with patients during performances, and getting them to beat on drums, sing, and dance. The $84,000 program is funded by an anonymous donor.

It’s pretty extraordinary for people in their 80s and 90s to keep the same sharp memory as someone several decades younger, so scientists are peeking into the brains of“superagers” who do to uncover their secret. The work is the flip side of the disappointing hunt for new drugs to fight or prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Instead of tackling that problem, “why don’t we figure out what it is we might need to do to maximize our memory?” said neuro­scientist Emily Rogalski, who leads the SuperAging study at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Dr. Darby Morhardt, professor at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

For nine years, these experts have been examining “SuperAgers” — men and women over age 80 whose memories are as good — or better — than people 20 to 30 years younger. Every couple of years, the group fills out surveys about their lives and gets a battery of neuropsychological tests, brain scans and a neurological examination, among other evaluations. “When we started this project, we weren’t really sure we could find these individuals,” said Emily Rogalski, an associate professor at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Margaret and Mark Zumdahl have made countless memories during their 25-year marriage, but Margaret, who lives with Alzheimer’s, is slowly starting to lose those memories. Thanks to a special program at Northwestern's Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, the couple is receiving help to deal with the disease.

A new study shows that a neurodegenerative syndrome in older adults, frontotemporal dementia, shares several fundamental features with another neurodegenerative disease usually seen in children.

“If I had your stem cells and created a heart, liver, lung and an ovary, I could test 10 different drugs at 10 different doses on you and say, ‘Here’s the drug that will help your Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s or diabetes,’ ” the lead investigator, Teresa K. Woodruff, said in a report about the research on the Northwestern University website. “It’s the ultimate personalized medicine, a model of your body for testing drugs.”

“Truly, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is an institution on the rise,” said Eric G. Neilson, MD, vice president for Medical Affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean. See some of the medical school's notable moments from 2016.