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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Morphological and Functional Evaluation of Axons and their Synapses during Axon Death in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: March 16, 2020
["Understanding the mass destruction of nerve cells"]
Melanie Ehmann1, Steffi G Riedel-Heller, Matthias C Angermeyer
1Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Universität Leipzig. ehmann@m-ww.de.
Objective:
One important step towards an early diagnosis and treatment of dementia is the recognition and understanding of disease by the public.
Method:
Since laymen's opinion is influenced by mass media, the portrayal of cognitive disorders was analysed using four volumes of a regional newspaper ("Leipziger Volkszeitung", LVZ).
Results:
The predominant topics were related to cause and symptoms of dementia. Memory loss was depicted as the main symptom, non-cognitive symptoms were completely neglected. Therapy options and prevention were scantily touched; if at all, the tenor was one of futility. Unfortunately, dementia was often used as a devaluating metaphor.
Conclusions:
In the media, scientifically sound information on dementia is rare. Supporting journalists with expert knowledge may help dementia sufferers to profit from the new developments in the field.
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