Why people can have Alzheimers-related brain damage...

What’s Happening

Listen up: Some people don’t develop dementia despite showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brain, and were starting to understand why Health Why people can have Alzheimer’s-related brain damage but no symptoms Some people don’t develop dementia despite showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brain, and we’re starting to understand why By Grace Wade 30 January 2026 Facebook / Meta Twitter / X icon Linkedin Reddit Email The plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimers disease usually cause devastating symptoms, but some people seem to be resilient to them Associated Press / Alamy Some people develop Alzheimer’s-related brain changes without experiencing symptoms of the disease, such as memory loss.

We don’t know exactly why this occurs, but two recent studies are inching us closer towards an answer, with scientists revealing that these people have unusual changes in their brain that may shield them from cognitive decline. In Alzheimer’s disease , clumps of misfolded proteins known as amyloid plaques and tau tangles build up in the brain, which is widely thought to drive cognitive decline. (we’re not making this up)

But not everyone with these hallmarks experiences symptoms – a phenomenon known as resilience.

The Details

In 2022, Henne Holstege at Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands and her colleagues found that some centenarians maintain good cognition despite these plaques and tangles . What are the best ways to improve your cognitive reserve?

Now, she and her colleagues have conducted another study to better understand why that is. The team analysed the brains of 190 deceased individuals, 88 of whom had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and 53 of whom showed no signs of the condition when they died, aged between 50 and 99.

Why This Matters

The remaining 49 participants were centenarians who didnt have Alzheimers or any other type of dementia, though 18 showed signs of cognitive impairment on a test taken in the year before their death. The researchers focused on a brain region called the middle temporal gyrus, which is one of the first areas where amyloid plaques and tau tangles co-occur in Alzheimer’s.

This could have implications for future research in this area.

The Bottom Line

This story is still developing, and we’ll keep you updated as more info drops.

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