Types of familial Alzheimer's disease research
A Youngtimers Guide ・ Last Reviewed Nov 12 2025
Participating in research can look different depending on the type of study you decide to join. Some studies involve testing investigational drugs, and some don’t. Some studies follow people over many years, allowing researchers to study how the brain and disease changes over time without intervention.
What does Alzheimer’s research help us learn?
Research studies can help us learn:
How Alzheimer's disease forms and progresses over time (so we might figure out how to prevent it).
How factors like diet, lifestyle, and genetics contribute to risk, susceptibility, age of onset, and/or resilience of Alzheimer’s disease
How and if a drug works to prevent or delay disease.
What are the main types of Alzheimer’s research?
Alzheimer’s research can be broken down into 3 high-level categories.
Observational studies (also called longitudinal studies) track what’s happening in the body and brain over time. No drug is involved. These studies are essential to understanding how Alzheimer’s disease progresses. These studies have provided critical information on developing appropriate disease biomarkers and critical timepoints for drug intervention.
Drug trials (also called interventional trials) test whether a treatment can prevent, slow, or reverse the disease. Participants are often randomized to receive either the active drug or a placebo. Some trials eventually allow all participants to take the drug in what's called an open-label extension.
Brain donations are another powerful contribution a person can make to Alzheimer’s research. By examining brain tissue after death, scientists can assess exactly how the disease manifested in a particular person. They can also see exactly how an investigational drug (if taken) affected amyloid plaques, tau tangles, and neurodegeneration.
What types of treatments can one expect in Alzheimer’s drug trials?
In drug trials, treatments typically target either:
Amyloid plaques: Sticky clumps of protein that build up decades before symptoms appear.
For example, the DIAN-TU Primary Prevention Trial ⧉, which began in late 2024, is testing whether the drug remternetug can prevent amyloid plaques from forming in people 11–25 years away from their expected age of onset.
Tau tangles: Misfolded proteins inside neurons, closely tied to memory loss.
Both: Newer trials are starting to combine amyloid and tau interventions.
For example, the DIAN-TU Tau NexGen Trial ⧉, which began in 2021, is testing whether the drugs lecanemab (an amyloid targeting drug) combined with E2814 (a tau targeting drug) can prevent, delay, or possibly reverse Alzheimer’s disease changes in the brain.
Ask the Expert Videos: Familial Alzheimer’s Disease Research
