New and rare genetic form of dementia discovered

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (PA, USA) have reported the discovery of a new and rare genetic form of dementia, which they have termed vacuolar tauopathy. This discovery sheds light on a new pathway that leads to protein build up in the brain that could be used as a target for new therapies. The study, which has recently been published in Science, examined human brain tissue samples from a deceased donor who had an unknown neurodegenerative disease. The investigators identified a novel mutation in the VCP gene in the brain, in addition to a build-up of...