A new device could help researchers better understand the link between traumatic brain injuries and Alzheimer’s and pave the way for new treatment methods, researchers announced.
The device includes millions of cultured mice neurons in a nutrient bed, which the researchers are describing as a kind of “mini brain” that they can use to test against different levels of force, to simulate types of injuries.
Both Alzheimer’s and TBI are major concerns for older adults. The latter is an issue with seniors and falling incidents, with severity of the fall a stronger indicator of potential mortality than the patients’ actual age. Some experts are pushing for a paradigm shift to consider TBI a chronic injury within care spaces.
The “mini brain,” which was developed by a team at Purdue University, involves a pendulum that tests various forces and then sees how different trauma blows activate the production of acrolein and amyloid beta proteins, which are found in Alzheimer’s patients.
“We know there’s a link between TBI and Alzheimer’s; that’s well established in clinical observation,” lead researcher Riyi Shi said in a statement. “But teasing out the basic essential pathway is not easy. With the TBI on a chip, we’re able to test a lot of hypotheses that would be very difficult to do in living animals.”
Study authors are hoping that in further research, they can test drugs that reduce acrolein levels and pave the way for new treatments that could prevent or abate Alzheimer’s.
The initial findings on the “mini brain” were published recently in the journal Lab on a Chip.
