Parkinson’s disease (PD) involves the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons, particularly in the substantia nigra. This neurodegeneration is linked to the abnormal accumulation of α-synuclein, a protein that forms toxic aggregates and spreads between cells, damaging them. At the 20th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases (AD/PD), held from March 17 to 21, 2026, in Copenhagen, several strategies were presented that aim to modify the course of the disease and offer real alternatives to purely symptomatic treatments.
Researchers at INSERM and collaborators have identified hypothalamic tanycytes as mediators of tau clearance and shown that their structural and genetic disruption may drive Alzheimer’s disease pathology.
Researchers at INSERM and collaborators have identified hypothalamic tanycytes as mediators of tau clearance and shown that their structural and genetic disruption may drive Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. AD is characterized by the buildup of extracellular amyloid-β plaques and intracellular tau tangles, protein aggregates that disrupt neuronal function and drive neurodegeneration.
Antiretroviral therapies against HIV have been in use for more than 30 years and have enabled people living with HIV to maintain undetectable viral levels. Many of them are aging in good health. However, others present symptoms of cognitive decline. HIV can reach the brain and establish a reservoir there. Yet, it is still unknown what this reservoir is like, which cells are affected, and which comorbidities are typical of aging or are associated with the virus.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement, and tremor is one of its signatures. But it is a much more wide-ranging disorder, and patients experience problems with cognitive and emotional processes as well. SCAN, the somato-cognitive action network identified in 2023, could reshape the definition of PD. Treating this circuit can improve outcomes.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement, and tremor is one of its signatures. But it is a much more wide-ranging disorder, and patients experience problems with cognitive and emotional processes as well. SCAN, the somato-cognitive action network identified in 2023, could reshape the definition of PD. Treating this circuit can improve outcomes.
Alterity Therapeutics Ltd. has divulged salts of ATH-434, the company's oral agent designed to inhibit the aggregation of pathological proteins implicated in neurodegeneration.
Researchers at Meiji Seika Pharma Co. Ltd., National Center of Neurology & Psychiatry and Tokyo University of Pharmacy & Life Sciences have synthesized NAD(+) H\hydrolase SARM1 (SAMD2; MyD88-5) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of neurodegeneration.
A tangle of DNA can look like a knotted ball in the cell nucleus. However, the genetic machinery has a complex and regulated structure. Its long repetitive sequences also seemed to have no function. They were called junk DNA, although they were not. The same happened with proteins and low-complexity domains, disordered chains of amino acids that were poorly understood. Nevertheless, that protein noise has turned into music for the 2025 Lasker Awards. These prizes have recognized the work of scientists who were able to see order in chaos.
