IPA Press Releases

Scientist honored for pioneering work in Alzheimer’s disease

Nice, France, (9 September 2001) - Professor Agneta Nordberg from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden today (September 9) received the 2001 Luigi Amaducci memorial award for her distinguished work in neuroscience, particularly in helping to map the changes in the brain that occur in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and demonstrating how new AD treatments work.

The Amaducci award, which is being presented for the second time this year, and includes a monetary prize of $40,000, was presented to Professor Nordberg at the opening ceremony of the 10th International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) Congress currently taking place in Nice, France. 

The award, which is administered by the IPA, was set up to honor a living physician or researcher who has made an exceptional contribution to the understanding and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. This year’s award was sponsored by Novartis Pharma AG and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

Professor Nordberg’s pioneering work, first in post-mortem brain tissue and then in brain scans of living patients, has helped uncover the neurotransmitter and receptor changes in the brain that underlie AD. Her groundbreaking work with brain scanning now focuses on early detection of AD and investigating how anti-dementia drugs work.

The initial breakthrough came in 1986, when Professor Nordberg was the first to discover that brain tissue of people who had died with AD had deficiencies in nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors. 

Then, as one of the first investigators to use positron emission tomography (PET) brain scanning in living AD patients, Professor Nordberg detected changes in brain function, including cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism. 

She subsequently used PET scanning to examine how the new anti-dementia cholinesterase inhibitors work, and found that treatment was associated with increased cholinergic function, glucose metabolism and cerebral blood flow. 

Professor Nordberg’s pioneering work in AD treatment has also involved nerve growth factor, given by a pump direct to the brain. Only three patients in the world have received this treatment to date. Professor Nordberg’s research has shown that nerve growth factor can increase glucose metabolism, cerebral blood flow and cholinergic receptors and therefore potentially affect memory and cognitive function.

Recent work headed by Professor Nordberg showed that AD treatments that inhibit acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase (the enzymes that break down ACh) are associated with improved cognitive function and increased glucose metabolism in the parts of the brain involved in attention and memory.

Professor Nordberg and her team of scientists are now focusing on ways to detect AD earlier. Her work using PET has already demonstrated that certain changes, such as decreased brain glucose metabolism, can take place 10 years before any symptoms of AD appear. Arresting or reversing these mechanisms could lead to further novel therapeutic interventions and better control of symptoms in people with AD. Professor Nordberg is also using PET scanning to determine which parts of the brain are activated during memory tasks in AD patients. 

Professor Nordberg is Head of the Division of Molecular Neuropharmacology in the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Occupational Therapy and Elderly Care Research (NEUROTEC) at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and Senior Consultant in geriatric medicine at Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm.

Notes to editors:
The International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) is recognized as the world’s leading multidisciplinary, not-for-profit organization providing healthcare professionals and scientists with current information about behavioral and biological geriatric mental health. IPA works actively to promote research in the field, and to facilitate international consensus and understanding in psychogeriatric issues.

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