A team from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in collaboration with two teams from the University of Créteil and the Brain and Spinal Cord Institute (Paris) are following a new lead to fight against the Alzheimer’s disease. These researchers have identified a new therapeutic target and are testing a molecule that could reduce the progression of the disease, or even reverse its course. In search of such molecules, researchers have already identified a promising one. Tested in humans for another indication, it does not present significant toxicity. Researchers have patented it and pharmaceutical laboratories have expressed their wish to have it to improve its effectiveness.
At the same time, two British researchers discovered that video game buffs certainly had better visual attention, but they had an increased risk of neurological disorders such as depression or Alzheimer’s disease. The strategies used by the majority of players to find themselves in the game would stimulate the striatum, an area located under the cortex, at the expense of the hippocampus. The latter would gradually atrophy, but the decline of the hippocampus is associated with various diseases. The idea of curbing the cognitive decline of the elderly through video games could therefore accentuate the problem instead of helping them, they warn.
Read also :
Alzheimer’s: the benefits of the Mediterranean diet
Alzheimer’s: the disease favored by snoring