Clinical Alzheimer Research

Dementia continues to be one of the major health challenges facing society. Alzheimer's disease alone or in combination with other pathologies is the most common cause of cognitive impairment and dementia. It is pathologically defined by extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular tau deposits. Pathology can be estimatedvia biomarkers in vivo already in the asymptomatic stages, while dementia is diagnosed at a later stage when a significant loss of everyday functions and cognition is present.

Many different mechanisms contribute to the development of the disease and the weight of these factors may be different from patient to patient.

Of high importance are protective factors, e.g. physical or cognitive activity, which allow people to tolerate a higher degree of pathology without a noticeable effect on cognitive performance and function in everyday life.

It is our goal to understand the early phases of the disease and to understand which factors are associated with cognitive performance in the absence or presence of Alzheimer’s pathology. Such an understanding will foster early diagnosis of the disease and aid prevention and treatment.

Brain Iron Load and Brain Functionality at Old Age
PD. Dr. med. Sonja Kagerer (project leader)

Biomarkers of Brain Clearance During Sleep
Prof. Dr. med. Ruth Tuura (project leader), Dr. med. Anton Gietl & PD. Dr. Valerie Treyer

Behavioral biomarkers for patients with mild neurocognitive disorder
Prof. Dr. med. Nicolas Langer (project leader), Dr. med. Anton Gietl & PD. Dr. Valerie Treyer