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CONy 2022 | What are the most vulnerable neurons to AD?

Lea Grinberg, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, CA, discusses the vulnerability of neurons to Alzheimer’s disease. The brain has approximately 86 billion neurons, falling into the two categories of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Excitatory neurons are more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease than inhibitory neurons. Yet amongst the excitatory neurons, there is a multitude of different classes comprising different shapes, distributions, and molecular characteristics. Thanks to single-cell technology, it is now possible to understand the molecular characteristics of singular neurons – helping identify which neurons are the most susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases. It was found that the excitatory neurons that express the RORB gene are more susceptible to Alzheimer’s. However, current studies are investigating the possibility of other excitatory neurons exhibiting vulnerable characteristics towards neurodegeneration. This interview was conducted during the 2022 World Congress on Controversies in Neurology (CONy) meeting.