Study probes man resistant to Alzheimer’s mutation

Washington University School of Medicine researchers report in Nature Medicine that Doug Whitney, 76, a Seattle-area man carrying a rare PSEN2 mutation that typically causes early-onset Alzheimer’s, shows no cognitive decline and virtually no tau buildup on brain scans. The team identified gene and protein changes that may underlie his 'remarkable resistance to tau pathology and neurodegeneration,' raising the prospect of targeted therapies to delay or prevent disease.