Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 14, 2026

Using Live-Cell Imaging to Measure the Effects of Pathological Proteins on Axonal Transport in Primary Hippocampal Neurons
Published on: December 22, 2023
Human tau pathology is associated with lonely, nontraveling slow waves linked to memory impairment
Omer Sharon1,2,3, Xi Chen4,5, Jason Dude6,7
1Center for Human Sleep Science, Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. omersharon@berkeley.edu.
Abstract:
Memory markedly declines with age, exaggerated in those with Alzheimer's disease, yet the mechanisms are still not resolved. Here we show that frontal lobe tau pathology in humans is associated with impaired en masse unity and cortical traveling propagation of nonrapid eye movement slow waves, linked to impaired memory retention. We elucidate these findings using positron-emission tomography tau brain imaging, and then replicate and extend them using Alzheimer's disease pathology markers derived from cerebrospinal fluid in an independent clinical cohort. Thus, tau-associated memory deficits are not wholly direct but indirectly linked to consequential 'lonely', nontraveling slow-wave events.
Related Concept Videos
Alzheimer Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Dementia l: Introduction
Huntington Disease l: Introduction
Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ and tau...
Alzheimer Disease l: Introduction
Role of Hippocampus in Memory

