Study reveals complex relationship between alcohol and Alzheimer's disease

Alcohol use has been associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia. But new research from the Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine at Texas A&M Health suggests the relationship between alcohol and Alzheimer's disease is more complicated than previously thought.

Instead of affecting all Alzheimer's-related brain changes in the same way, alcohol interacted differently with amyloid-beta-related and tau-related pathology in animal models, two key pathological processes involved in Alzheimer's disease.

The study was led by postdoctoral research associate Dr. Yufei Huang in the lab of Dr. Jun Wang, professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics. The researchers focused on how alcohol affects brain circuits that are important for behavioral flexibility, or the ability to adjust behavior when situations change. This ability often becomes impaired in both addiction and Alzheimer's disease.

"We started thinking about whether the same circuits involved in flexibility and adaptation might also be important in Alzheimer's disease," Huang said.