What Causes Alzheimer’s? Scientists Are Rethinking the Answer. (Pt. 2)

If plaques of amyloid protein in the brain aren’t the root cause of Alzheimer’s disease, what is?

For three decades, most Alzheimer’s researchers have stuck by the theory that aggregations of proteins called amyloid plaques cause the disease. Researchers investigating alternative possibilities have faced resistance from the biomedical establishment for decades, but intriguing theories about the role of defects in protein processing and the immune system have emerged.

Listen to the player below for part two of the Quanta Science Podcast episode.

To hear part one of this podcast or to read the full article by Yasemin Saplakoglu, click here.

Comment on this article