A Birmingham university has received a £22,000 grant for a study to identify what causes Alzheimer's patients problems in learning and recalling memories.
Researchers at Aston University have been awarded funding by the Alzheimer's Research Trust to examine the changes that occur in the brain of people with this form of dementia.
One of the key chemicals connected to learning is acetylcholine, which is released from brain cells called neurons, then binds to receptors on other neurons to send signals.
Amyloid, a protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's, can interact with that chemical receptor and effect its ability to send signals to the patient's brain.
Dr Rheinallt Parri and his team at Aston University will investigate the impact that a build-up of amyloid has on the receptor to find out how it may alter a person's ability to learn.
"Identifying a new action of amyloid in the brain would be a major step forward in under-standing of Alzheimer's and a possible target for new drug treatments," said Dr Parri.
Alzheimer's disease is not a normal, unavoidable part of the ageing process but a fatal and incurable brain disease.
According to the Alzheimer's Research Trust, only £11 per patient is spent annually on studies into the condition, compared with £289 per patient for cancer research.
More than 9,370 people in Birmingham are currently being treated for Alzheimer's, with 527,000 people across the UK diagnosed with it.
Rebecca Wood, the charity's chief executive, said: "We still just don't know enough about the role and function of amyloid and how it affects learning and recalling memories in the Alzheimer's brain.
"We hope this research will help significantly with that, allowing us to think about future directions for potential treatments."
