Dr. Jannic Boehm, a researcher at the University of Montreal Department of Physiology, has challenged the hypothesis that beta-amyloid proteins, commonly called A-beta, are the culprit of Alzheimer’s disease.
While several members of the scientific community believe that the neurodegenerative disease is attributed to a loss of neurons, Mr. Boehm is convinced that a physiological deficit is to blame. He claims that a higher level of A-beta proteins leads to the occurrences of potentialisation and long-term synaptic depression, two cellular correlations to memory and learning, which inhibit glucamatergenic synaptic transmission.
Thus, his work will focus on the cellular mechanisms regulated by A-beta proteins that interfere with transmission and synaptic plasticity.