Ultrasound attacks Alzheimer’s disease?

The rise in the incidence of dementia has become a major public health concern all over the world (1). Alzheimer’s disease (AD), characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration, is known to be the most common cause of dementia. The brains of AD patients have an abundance of amyloid plaques, in the form of extracellular aggregates of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), which are believed to contribute to the progressive neurodegeneration observed in the AD brain (2,3). Despite decades of widespread research into approaches to slow progression of the disease, scientists have had no luck developing promising treatments. In a recent article published in Science Translational Medicine, Leinenga et al. reported use of ultrasound as a promising approach to clear neurotoxic amyloid plaque from the AD brain (4).