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Nature 443, 768-773 (19 October 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature05289; Published online 18 October 2006

A network dysfunction perspective on neurodegenerative diseases

Jorge J. Palop1, Jeannie Chin1 & Lennart Mucke1

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Patients with Alzheimer's disease or other neurodegenerative disorders show remarkable fluctuations in neurological functions, even during the same day. These fluctuations cannot be caused by sudden loss or gain of nerve cells. Instead, it is likely that they reflect variations in the activity of neural networks and, perhaps, chronic intoxication by abnormal proteins that the brain is temporarily able to overcome. These ideas have far-reaching therapeutic implications.

  1. Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158, USA.

Correspondence to: Lennart Mucke1 Email: lmucke@gladstone.ucsf.edu

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