Amyloid- -Induced Action Potential Desynchronization and Degradation of Hippocampal Gamma Oscillations Is Prevented by Interference with Peptide Conformation Change and Aggregation

What is it about?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) results in loss of memory and cognitive function. These processes are highly dependent on brain rhythms, known to be disrupted in AD. Here we show for the first time how the so-called gamma oscillations are disrupted by beta-amyloid (toxic peptide overproduced in AD brains). Beta-amyloid causes over-activation of principal neurons and a change in synaptic properties of the network (the connections between cells). Furthermore, we show that this beta-amyloid toxicity can be blocked by interfering with how this peptide aggregates, using synthetic compounds.

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