This is undoubtedly the most difficult time to go through when you have a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease: when they no longer recognize you.
But if it is currently impossible to prevent this from happening, it is possible that the years to come will see the emergence of an approach to prevent this phenomenon.
At least that’s what researchers suggest, who discovered mechanisms that would explain this forgetting of familiar faces in Alzheimer’s patients. We are talking about social cognition disorderwhich affects people with Alzheimer’s type dementia.
Perineuronal networks with a crucial role
A team from the University of Virginia (United States), whose work recently appeared in the specialized journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia (Source 1), suggests that the inability to recognize family and friends is due to the breakdown of the protective networks that surround the neurons in the brain.
The team had previously shown the crucial role of “ perineuronal networks » in the brain. These are network structures that surround neurons and play an essential barrier role, allowing optimal neuronal communication. Communication is essential for the brain to form and store new memories.
Social memory impacted, unlike that of objects
Here, working on the dysfunctions…
Read more
