Brain Changes Linked To Alzheimer’s Disease Appear Decades Before Symptoms

Biomarkers of brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease are present between 11 and 34 years before cognitive impairment is evident. The biomarkers that present changes prior to cognitive impairment are measures based on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cognitive testing.

These findings were reported in "Identifying Changepoints in Biomarkers During the Preclinical Phase of Alzheimer’s Disease" by Laurent Younes, Marilyn Albert, Abhay Moghekar, Anja Soldan, Corinne Pettigrew, and Michael I. Miller. The researchers examined CSF, MRI, and cognitive testing results obtained from 306 cognitively normal individuals that were collected by the National Institutes of Health . . .