The ‘locs coeruleus’ or ‘blue core’
‘It concerns the ‘locus coeruleus’ or ‘blue core’, hidden deep in the brain stem (see blue arrow in photo), and can only be visualized with advanced MRI equipment. Heidi Jacobs (Maastricht University/Harvard Medical School) showed with the help of such MRI scans that the so-called tau protein starts to spread precisely in that locus coeruleus, sometimes as early as 30 years before the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s are visible’, says the Maastricht University.
Science Translational Medicine
Scientists have suspected for some time that the protein tau plays a decisive role in the development of the disease. The findings of Jacobs and her team were recently published in the scientific journal Science Translational Medicine.
Tau-eiwit
Many researchers believe that the protein amyloid is the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. But another protein, tau, also turns out to be very important. Tau forms harmful protein tangles in the brain cells of people with Alzheimer’s. Jacobs’s study now shows for the first time that the development of this harmful protein tangle is related to changes in the blue core of the brain.
Accelerated memory decline
Moreover, Jacobs was able to link the accumulation of the tau protein in the locus coeruleus and an accelerated decline in memory. ‘The locus coeruleus is very small and therefore difficult to map in living people’, explains Jacobs.
Ultrasterke MRI-scanners
‘We have succeeded for the first time in examining this core with new, ultra-strong MRI scanners in Maastricht. We shared that knowledge with Harvard Medical School; the MRI scans were coupled with PET scans to visualize the protein tau in 174 people who have been followed in America for 10 years. In this way, we were able to show that changes in the locus coeruleus during young adulthood are associated with tau protein accumulations and memory problems typical of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, our findings show that these early changes in the locus coeruleus are not part of normal aging, but may signal the development of Alzheimer’s disease.’
Early stage
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. Nearly 300,000 people currently live with dementia in the Netherlands. This number is expected to explode in the coming years to more than half a million people by 2040. There is not yet a medicine that cures dementia. But if an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s is detected at a very early stage, a healthy(er) lifestyle could reduce the risk of dementia again.
Sleep, stress, emotions and memory
‘The locus coeruleus plays an important role in the areas of sleep, stress, emotions and memory,’ says Jacobs. ‘For that reason and because this core is affected by the tau protein so early, MRI images of it can help identify people with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. In the future, MRI measurements of the locus coeruleus may provide clues for new treatments that slow down the development of Alzheimer’s disease.’
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