New grant to further Southampton’s research into the causes of Alzheimer’s disease

University of Southampton neuroscientists Dr Katrin Deinhardt and Professor Vincent O’Connor have been awarded almost £85,000 by the Alzheimer’s Society to further their work into early stages of the disease.

The grant will fund a PhD student to research how nerve cells or neurons within the brain begin to shut down at the outset of Alzheimer’s disease and why networks of neurons stop communicating with each other.

“We need to know more about what is happening in the brain in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s if scientists are to have any success in intervening and stopping the disease from progressing,” explains Katrin. “Although neurons can repair themselves, they are not doing so in this case and we want to understand why.”

Investigations into the causes of Alzheimer’s Disease is a key area of research within the multidisciplinary Southampton Neuroscience Group (SoNG)