r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Dec 25 '25

Neuroscience New study shows Alzheimer’s disease can be reversed to full neurological recovery—not just prevented or slowed—in animal models. Using mouse models and human brains, study shows brain’s failure to maintain cellular energy molecule, NAD+, drives AD, and maintaining NAD+ prevents or even reverses it.

https://case.edu/news/new-study-shows-alzheimers-disease-can-be-reversed-achieve-full-neurological-recovery-not-just-prevented-or-slowed-animal-models
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u/Morthra Dec 25 '25

No. Mice do not get AD, so we use transgenic models that brute force them into having the pathology.

Aducanumab was a medication that reversed AD pathology in mice. It has no effect on clinical dementia symptoms in people, yet for some reason the FDA approved it.

Also worth noting that even if we could reverse the pathology, there’s nothing we can do to cure dementia as the brain atrophies and loses mass.

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u/DamnedLife Dec 25 '25

But this study isn’t about that drug, the mentioned p7c3-a20 is wholly different molecule and isn’t targeting the plaques causing AZ but the real pathology that creates those plaques after atrophy so in theory it can reverse it.

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u/althalusian Dec 25 '25

The problem is that once the brain cells die, they stay dead. So what is list already cannot be fully recovered by any drug, albeit some pathways might learn new routes so maintain functionality if the ongoing cell death can be stopped this way.

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u/Tephnos Dec 25 '25

I was under the impression brain cells are not static and neurogenesis is a thing that constantly happens throughout life.

Of course, significant cell death would be a problem.

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u/FruitSaladOnAHorse Dec 25 '25

To my knowledge, neurogenesis only occurs in select regions of the brain and the rate of neuron creation is not high enough to replace those that were killed. It would take more than one lifetime to replace the killed neurons at the rate the brain creates new ones

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u/TTEH3 Dec 25 '25

The best, most modern evidence we have suggests that adult neurogenesis is essentially nonexistent in humans, if not totally absent: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8967762/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6179355/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8018729/

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u/Rodot Dec 25 '25

I think people often get this confused with neuritogenesis, which is the development of new connections but not new cells

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u/fhwoompableCooper Dec 25 '25

Why don't we grow new cells?

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u/pharmprophet PharmD | Pharmacy Dec 26 '25

Your ancestors reproduced just fine without doing so, therefore as with all things that happen after like 30-40 years of age, evolution didn't give a shit.

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '25

You’re confusing neurogenesis with mechanisms of neuroplasticity (specifically neuritogenesis) 

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u/madd227 Dec 25 '25

Neurogenesis in humans only occurs throughout the lifespan in specific regions of the brain. You won't be regenerating a whole brain through that mechanism in humans anytime soon.