Until recently, Alzheimer’s pathology could only be confirmed in living patients via PET imaging or lumbar puncture. Plasma p-tau217 changed that calculus — but how to interpret a positive result depends substantially on APOE genotype.1 Research Highlights Plasma p-tau217 is a blood biomarker that rises years before Alzheimer’s symptoms. The 2024 Alzheimer’s Association revised criteria …
Betrayal does not just make people less trusting. It can also change what they pay attention to afterward. After a negative social surprise, people may start scanning more closely for signs of threat, which can make distrust easier to confirm and harder to undo. Research Highlights Selective observation: Son and Yoo 2026 modeled social inference …
Brief screening tools for early dementia risk are essential in primary care. A 2026 study by You et al. evaluated the AD8 informant questionnaire in older Chinese-speaking adults in Australia, mapping how cognitive, functional, social, and language-barrier risks stack before dementia is formally diagnosed.1 Research Highlights The AD8 dementia screening interview is an 8-item informant-based …
Patients with schizophrenia have substantially elevated dementia risk compared to the general population — roughly 2-3 times the age-adjusted rate — but the specific drivers within the schizophrenia population have been less well characterized. A 2026 case-control study by Ho et al. used population-based data to identify which factors specifically elevate dementia risk among schizophrenia …
Cognitive fluctuations are a defining feature of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), helping distinguish it from Alzheimer’s disease — but they remain notoriously difficult to characterize and measure. A 2026 review by Mahajan and colleagues maps the neurobiology, measurement, and clinical implications of fluctuations across the Lewy body spectrum.1 Research Highlights Cognitive fluctuations are episodes …
Multiple system atrophy is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease with no proven disease-modifying therapy. A 2026 review by Jeong and colleagues tracks two decades of repurposed-drug trials, with one recent positive Phase 2 result.1 Research Highlights Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a fatal α-synuclein disorder distinct from Parkinson’s disease. It progresses faster than PD (median …
Studies of adolescent cannabis effects on cognition have been limited by self-report and confounding. A 2026 longitudinal study by Wade and colleagues uses the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort with both self-report and biological toxicology, separating THC and CBD effects on developing cognition.1 Research Highlights Adolescence is a critical window for cognitive maturation, with …