Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Research

For more information about the Bonakdarpour Lab, please visit the Bonakdarpour Laboratory website.

Twitter: @bbonakda

Research Description

We study brain systems involved in learning, generalization and decision-making such as the striatum and the orbitofrontal cortex.  For this, we use a combination of human psychophysics, computational models, fMRI and advanced multivariate analyses techniques borrowed from machine learning.  This research may pave the way for understanding decision-making deficits in neurological diseases and should ultimately lead to novel diagnostic markers and treatment strategies for these disorders.

Publications

For more information visit the faculty profile of Thorsten Kahnt, PhD, or visit the Kahnt Lab website.

Contact Information

Thorsten Kahnt, PhD at 312-503-2896

Twitter: @KahntLab

Lab Description

As the director of the NIH-funded Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center (CNADC), Dr. Mesulam’s research focuses on cognition and aging. The CNADC’s research ranges from evaluating quality-of-life interventions for Alzheimer’s disease, to understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, and everything in between. Many of the research studies at the CNADC are related to primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a rare dementia syndrome characterized by the progressive loss of language abilities with relative sparing of other areas of cognition. As one of the top referral centers for PPA in the world, they maintain a large cohort of patients who are thoroughly studied using a variety of techniques, including MRI, ERP, and neuropsychological testing. All research patients have the opportunity to participate in the Brain Donation Program, which allows researchers to understand the link between clinical presentation and underlying neuropathologic disease.

Publications

For more information please see the faculty profile of M Marsel Mesulam, MD or visit the The Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center (CNADC) website.

Contact Us

Phone: 312-908-9339

Twitter: @NUMesulamCenter

Research Description

We use biochemistry with discovery-based mass spectrometry to identify the protein perturbations which drive synaptopathies and proteinopathies. Groups of perturbed proteins serve as pathway beacons which we subsequently characterizes in hopes of finding new pathogenic mechanisms and potential future therapeutic targets.

For more information view the faculty profile of Jeffrey Savas, PhD or the Savas Lab website.

Publications

Please see Dr. Savas's publications on PubMed.

Contact

Jeffrey Savas, PhD
Assistant Professor in Neurology
312-503-3089

Research Description

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. The progressive degeneration of neurons in regions of the brain important for cognition causes the dementia that slowly robs AD patients of their memories, personalities and eventually their lives.

AD pathology is characterized by two microscopic brain lesions:

• Amyloid plaques: Extracellular deposits of the beta-amyloid peptide (Ab), and the longer 42 amino acid form, Ab42, which is strongly associated with autosomal dominant forms of familial AD
• Neurofibrillary tangles

Ab is generated from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by endoproteolysis from two proteases called the b- and g-secretases. The b-secretase, a novel aspartic protease termed BACE1, was initially cloned and characterized by our group (Vassar, et al., 1999). BACE1 is required for the generation of all forms of Ab, including Ab42, and therefore is a prime drug target for the treatment of AD.

Our ongoing research focuses on the role of Ab and BACE1 in normal biological processes and in disease mechanisms of relevance to AD, including:

• The functions of BACE1 and the homologue, BACE2 and the cell biology of Ab in neurons
• The role of inflammation in AD pathophysiology
• Novel transgenic and knockout mouse models of AD
• Molecular changes that may occur during brain aging leading to neurodegeneration

For lab information and more, visit the Vassar Lab website or see Dr. Vassar's faculty profile.

Publications

See Dr. Vassar's publications on PubMed.

Contact

Email Dr. Robert Vassar

Phone: 312-503-3361