University of California, Los Angeles et. al. other research news

As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, inheritance of the allele for ApoE4, an identified risk factor for familial Alzheimer's disease, was associated with reduced metabolism in the parietal cerebral cortex. The correlation was determined by positron emission tomography with fludeoxyglucose F 18 (p=0.009 and 0.02 for left and right parietal cortex).

This defect also was found in seven patients with probable Alzheimer's. Increased left-right brain asymmetry of glucose metabolism also was found with inheritance of the allele (p=0.019). The study compared 12 relatives who inherited the allele to 19 relatives who did not have it. ...