A new study from the Hengen Lab published in Neuron takes a closer look how diseases like Alzheimer’s affect cell teamwork.
To function properly, our brains need to maintain balance—a homeostatic set-point called criticality. “It’s as excitable as the system can be without losing control,” Keith Hengen, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, explained. “At criticality, patterns of all sizes and time scales exist—as a result, a critical brain is optimal for computing almost anything.” So, if something upsets this balance, the brain’s ability to do things may start to unravel, like it does in diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Hengen and his team looked at disease caused by a protein called tau that is involved in most forms of human neurodegeneration. In brains where everything is working properly, this protein helps stabilize structures inside neurons. But in neurodegenerative diseases, tau is assembled incorrectly and becomes toxic.