Plasticity may make neurons vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease

(Simons Foundation) Some neuron types are particularly prone to Alzheimer's, and a new study suggests that those neurons are vulnerable because they regularly remodel. The work is the first to track the progression of Alzheimer's at the genetic and molecular levels within the neurons most susceptible to the disease. The findings suggest that aging and the accumulation amyloid-beta can cause the remodeling process to go awry, creating tangles of tau proteins that lead to neuron death.