Dementia is a heartbreaking condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It slowly damages memory, thinking skills, and the ability to do everyday tasks. Even after years of research, the exact causes of dementia are still not fully understood, and there is no cure yet.
But now, a team of scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine has made a major breakthrough that could lead to new treatments.
Their research focused on a type of brain cell called astrocytes. These cells have long been seen as “helper” cells that support neurons—the main cells that send messages in the brain.
But this new study shows that astrocytes might play a much bigger role than we thought. In fact, when these cells go wrong, they might be able to cause memory problems even when neurons are still healthy.
The scientists looked at brain tissue from people who had Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia. They found a build-up of a protein called TDP-43 in the astrocytes, especially in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that helps with forming and storing memories. This protein build-up seems to switch on abnormal immune responses in the astrocytes.
To understand what this meant, the researchers tested their ideas in mice and in lab-grown brain cells. When they added TDP-43 to astrocytes in the mouse brain, the mice developed memory problems—even though the rest of their behavior stayed the same. This was a clear sign that malfunctioning astrocytes alone could harm memory.
But why did this happen? The study found that the affected astrocytes were producing too many chemokines—chemical messengers that usually help the body fight infections. However, in these mice, there was no infection. The astrocytes were overreacting, and this led to more trouble.
The chemokines activated something called CXCR3 receptors on the neurons. These receptors made the neurons too active, which stopped them from working properly. This is what caused the memory issues.
What’s exciting is that medications that block CXCR3 are already being tested for other health problems, like arthritis. If these drugs can also calm the astrocytes and protect the neurons, they might one day be used to help people with dementia. That means scientists might not need to create brand new drugs—just use existing ones in a new way.
While we wait for these treatments to be tested, there are still things we can do to keep our brains healthy.
Experts recommend staying physically active, eating a healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet, doing mentally stimulating activities, staying socially connected, getting enough sleep, and managing stress and chronic health conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.
This new study, led by Avital Licht-Murava and published in Science Advances, has opened up a brand-new path in dementia research.
Instead of only focusing on neurons, scientists are now looking closely at astrocytes and how their immune activity might be damaging the brain. It’s a big step forward and gives new hope that, one day, we may be able to slow down or even stop the memory loss caused by dementia.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about Vitamin B9 deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and flavonoid-rich foods could help prevent dementia.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that cranberries could help boost memory, and how alcohol, coffee and tea intake influence cognitive decline.
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