Interview – Dementia symptoms reversed in mice, human trials next after federal funding announced

A treatment for dementia is in sight after the Australian federal government announced $10 million funding for a study that has been able to fully reverse dementia in mice, with clinical trials on humans set to begin late 2019. The pioneering technique was developed in 2015 at the Queensland Brain Institute, a research body at the University of Queensland (UQ). Researchers used a non-invasive technique, which employs scanning ultrasound, to clear out toxic buildups in the brain that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, a common form of dementia. Professor Jurgen Gotz said the results were completely unexpected. “Cognition was restored. So the mice were perfectly fine afterwards, which was a surprise to us, but obviously was extremely encouraging,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Network. Credit: University Of Queensland