Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
A team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is part of a new multi-institution effort to better understand Alzheimer’s disease in adults with Down syndrome. Adults with Down syndrome are at high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease beginning in their late 40s, because of their unique biology. The vast majority will eventually develop the …
A gift from the Mancheski Foundation continues to provide integral support to doctoral student Matthew Zammit as he furthers his research on the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome. Zammit is beginning his fourth year as a doctoral student working in the laboratory of Bradley Christian, PhD, a Waisman investigator and professor …
We have seen a profound increase in lifespan for individuals with Down syndrome (DS) in the past few decades leading to a large and somewhat understudied population of middle- and older aged adults with DS. One health condition consistently seen in clinic-based DS samples is dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease).
Not so many years ago, people with Down syndrome rarely survived to middle age. Many died young due to heart problems associated with the congenital condition. Today, advances in treatment have allowed them to live longer, healthier lives.
Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and show the earliest signs of amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition in the striatum. The metric for tracking Aβ burden using PET radiotracers frequently uses average standard uptake value ratios (SUVr) in signature regions of the brain specific to Aβ deposition.
The Waisman Center is one of 25 recipients to receive funding through a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant that focuses on advancing research on Down syndrome. The grant is part of the NIH Investigation of Co-occurring Conditions Across the Lifespan to Understand Down Syndrome (INCLUDE) project. INCLUDE is a trans-NIH effort that will fund …
It’s not a cure for Down syndrome that Dave Witte and Cristina Delgadillo want for their 5-year-old daughter. “Olivia is our daughter and we love her, and we love her because of who she is. And part of who she is, is she has Down syndrome,” Witte says. But they would be happy if stem …
Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome; DS) leads to an overproduction of amyloid precursor protein and an increased risk for early Alzheimer’s disease. A study of the natural history of AD-related neuropathology is ongoing to gain an understanding of the distribution and time course of b-amyloid and tau burden in the brains of adults with DS.
About once every year and a half, Erin Harvey takes time off of her job as a teacher’s aide and along with her mom, Nancy, makes a two and a half hour drive from her home in central Illinois to the University of Wisconsin–Madison Waisman Center to “embark on an afternoon of adventure.” At the …
Neuropathology of the Down syndrome cerebral cortex includes fewer interneurons in upper cortical layers.
