A new connection between brain injury and Alzheimer’s

Researchers are examining how they are linked^1,2

For a long time, scientists have known about the link between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Alzheimer’s. People who have suffered such injuries have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life.

While the connection between TBI and Alzheimer’s makes sense on the surface, scientists have been trying to understand exactly why the link exists. A new study has discovered a potential reason for the link. Researchers studied the brains of people after serious head injuries and found that they were similar to the brains of people with Alzheimer’s in one very important way.

Plaques were found in the brains of people with serious head injuries^1,2

The brains of people with Alzheimer’s often have many plaques made up of pieces of protein called amyloid beta. Using a type of brain scan called positron emission tomography (PET), researchers found that those same type of plaques are found in people almost immediately after they suffer a TBI.

This is an interesting finding because being able to locate plaques using PET scanning technology can open up new ways to diagnose and help treat Alzheimer’s disease.

5 Important things to know about the study^1,2

1. Researchers tested 15 people with TBI and 11 people with no history of brain trauma and found that those with TBI had significantly higher levels of plaques
2. In the study, more serious brain injuries led to higher levels of plaques
3. The study is promising in part because it’s a step toward being able to find signs of  Alzheimer’s early on. By locating plaques in the brain, doctors can potentially know whether people are at risk for the disease years before symptoms develop
4. One of the most interesting things that the study did was test whether the levels of  plaques got better or worse over time. This may become important in the future, because PET scans could potentially test whether treatments for Alzheimer’s are working by measuring levels of plaques over time
5. Though this study is promising, it doesn’t show that TBI directly causes Alzheimer’s. More research will have to be done to discover the exact relationship between TBI and the disease

Learn more about brain imaging technology.