Osama Sabri, Philipp M Meyer, Susanne Gräf, Swen Hesse, Stephan Wilke, Georg-Alexander Becker, Michael Rullmann, Marianne Patt, Julia Luthardt, Gudrun Wagenknecht, Alexander Hoepping, Rene Smits, Annegret Franke, Bernhard Sattler, Solveig Tiepolt, Steffen Fischer, Winnie Deuther-Conrad, Ulrich Hegerl, Henryk Barthel, Peter Schönknecht, Peter Brust
In early Alzheimer's dementia, there is a need for PET biomarkers of disease progression with close associations to cognitive dysfunction that may aid to predict further cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. Amyloid biomarkers are not suitable for that purpose. The α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α4β2-nAChRs) are widely abundant in the human brain. As neuromodulators they play an important role in cognitive functions such as attention, learning and memory. Post-mortem studies reported lower expression of α4β2-nAChRs in more advanced Alzheimer's dementia...
April 17, 2018: Brain: a Journal of Neurology