Identifying neurons vulnerable to tau pathology in early AD

Tau protein normally functions to help support nerve cell structure and transport nutrients within the cell. In Alzheimer's, tau protein can become abnormally modified and clump into'tangles'; in the brain, a characteristic feature of the disease. The brain has many different types of nerve cells, but only some nerve cells accumulate tau tangles and die. More research is needed to determine what makes certain nerve cells vulnerable to damage, while others are spared, in Alzheimer's disease.