Published on: Oct 09, 2025
Researchers at the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging have uncovered new insights into how the brain’s support cells, called astrocytes, communicate with blood vessels—a process that becomes disrupted in Alzheimer’s disease.
Featured on the cover of The Journal of Neuroscience, the study—led by Chris Norris, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and nutritional sciences—identified a key breakdown in the signaling between brain cells and blood vessels that may explain how the brain’s energy supply fails in Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
Using advanced real-time imaging in mouse models and a custom analysis program developed by first author Blaine Weiss, a graduate student in the UK College of Medicine, the team observed that in Alzheimer’s-like brains, astrocytes become hyperactive and poorly synchronized with each other and with blood vessel function. This miscommunication likely prevents energy from reaching the areas of the brain that need it most—contributing to cognitive decline.
The work is part of Norris’ larger NIH-funded project, Strategies for Targeting Astrocyte Reactivity in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (STAR-ADRD), supported by a $20.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), with an additional $1.8 million NIA grant backing this specific study. The findings highlight a potential new path for astrocyte-targeted therapies to restore normal blood flow and metabolic health in aging brains.
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