Improving Memory and Brain Function on the Path to Alzheimer's Disease

Michela Gallagher, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins, describes how an existing anti-seizure drug improves brain function and memory in adults with a form of cognitive impairment that often leads to full-blown Alzheimer's disease.

Announced at the 2011 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease on July 20 in Paris, the study's findings raise the possibility that, someday, doctors may be able to prescribe this drug to slow the abnormal loss of brain function in patients before they actually develop Alzheimer's.