University of Arizona researchers have developed a new therapy for Alzheimer’s disease designed to restore cognitive function in early-stage patients.
The team, led by Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton, director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science and a member of the BIO5 Institute, found that the neurosteroid allopregnanolone, or allo, used to treat women with postpartum depression, promotes connectivity between neural networks required for cognitive function by generating new neurons and synapses in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The therapy has been licensed to start-up NeuTherapeutics, Inc.