News

PITTSBURGH — Research in Sweden shows that when blood tests are quantified in primary care settings, they are more than 90 accurate in identifying the presence of pathological proteins in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s Disease, according to a new study...

El neurólogo brasileño afincado en Pensilvania Tharick Pascoal es uno de los ochenta peregrinos que, procedentes de 26 países diferentes, participan desde este lunes en la segunda edición de Walking the Talk for Dementia. Una iniciativa que define como...

Pitt Psychiatry’s 2024 Research Day featured 173 poster presentations from faculty, trainees, and staff. Each poster presenter was visited by one pair of reviewers from among a total of 55 faculty discussants. During the plenary session, Outstanding Poster...

Congratulations to Cynthia Felix, MD, MPH, and Shalini Sivathasan, PhD, who received Best Poster Presentation Awards at the University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association 2024 Postdoctoral Data & Dine Symposium. Dr. Felix is a postdoctoral associate focusing on...

Researchers around the world are collaborating in the largest head-to-head tau PET dataset and harmonization effort ever undertaken. The findings could lead to significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease. Drs. Tharick Pascoal (University...

As neuronal supporters and immune surveyors, astrocytes and microglia are no mere bystanders to the neuronal mayhem that unfolds in Alzheimer’s disease. At the AD/PD meeting, held March 5-9 in Lisbon, scientists presented new twists on the relative contributions of...

Alzheimer’s patients are notoriously irritable, agitated and anxious – and researchers now think they know why. Brain inflammation appears to influence the mood problems of Alzheimer’s patients, rather than traditional markers of the disease like amyloid beta or tau...

Common neuropsychiatric symptoms that doctors see in Alzheimer’s disease patients originate from brain inflammation rather than amyloid and tau proteins, report University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers today in JAMA Network Open. The finding strengthens...

The Alzheimer's Association says the disease is a growing public health crisis in PA. Major steps are being taken here in Allegheny County, whether it's addressing under-represented communities, or helping with early detection....

The Pascoal Lab (PI: Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD; Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology) and colleagues have published recent research findings in Alzheimer's & Dementia and Nature Aging examining biomarkers and...

Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/video/pittsburgh-is-at-the-forefront-of-research-for-warning-signs-of-alzheimers-disease

Two older adults check in at the hospital to undergo brain scans. Their results are remarkably similar. Both show an accumulation of amyloid plaques—proteins that clog the spaces between neurons and serve as a telltale sign of Alzheimer’s disease. But, as time...

In this UPMC Physician Journal feature, meet Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD, neurologist and associate professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, as he and his team conduct research to find a biomarker based on tau proteins in...

More than 6.5 million people are living with Alzheimer’s in the United States. More than six million children have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. One is usually diagnosed later in life, and the other is diagnosed earlier, but could the two actually...

New research has shed light on the connection between attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Alzheimer’s, two neurological conditions that manifest in very different ways.  One study showed that people who are genetically predisposed to ADHD may be...

A blood test may help identify individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s before they show any signs of the disease, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine. The blood test looks at the activity of star-shaped brain cells in the blood...

Astrocytes, cells that are involved in the brain’s support system, might play an important role in the progression of Alzheimer disease, according to results from 1016 participants with and without amyloid-β pathology who were all cognitively unimpaired....

Why do some people with amyloid plaques decline, while others do not? In the May 29 Nature Medicine, researchers led by Tharick Pascoal at the University of Pittsburgh laid some of the blame on reactive astrocytes. Among cognitively healthy people with amyloid...

Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry) is an internationally recognized expert on the imaging and fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. He recently published two papers examining the multifaceted but interactive...

A blood test that can detect people at early risk of Alzheimer’s is a step closer after scientists implicated a key brain cell in the development of the disease. As well as providing the basis for a test, their work points to a resolution of one of the persistent...

Scientists may have found the true cause of Alzheimer's disease — and believe the condition can be detected using a simple blood test. Experts have long known the build-up of amyloid in the brain is linked to the disease, but whether the plaques are a cause...

Department of Psychiatry investigators focused on Alzheimer’s Research—Victor Villemagne, MD (Professor of Psychiatry); Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology); and Thomas Karikari, PhD (Assistant Professor...

Do microglia thwart neurodegenerative disease, or help it along? Do they keep amyloid in check with one hand, while goading tau entanglement with the other? Do they protect neurons early on in disease, but sour into synaptic slayers later? As the field gears up to...

We are delighted to announce that Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  Dr. Pascoal received his MD from Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil. He...

Having a genetic predisposition to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is associated with cognitive decline and may predict Alzheimer's disease in old age, early research released Thursday suggests. Recent large studies have hinted at a link between...

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects 2.5% of adults worldwide. Pharmacotherapy is the recommended initial treatment for most adults, but patient adherence can be low due to adverse effects and other concerns....

In Alzheimer’s disease, reactive astrocytes can play an important role in the pathophysiology of the disease. Amyloid-β and tau tangles—the two main pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease—are associated with astrocyte reactivity. However, knowledge about...

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has awarded the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry a Program Project Grant (PPG) renewal for “The role of astrogliosis in aging and the pathological and clinical progression of Alzheimer's disease.” The Alzheimer’s...

PITTSBURGH - Contrary to early studies, brain levels of enzymes that regulate DNA-folding drop as Alzheimer’s disease progresses, neuroscientists from the University of Pittsburgh, McGill University and Harvard University reported today...

In fall 2021, Alzheimer’s Disease International published World Alzheimer Report 2021: Journey though the diagnosis of dementia, a compendium of research on the disease, currently the seventh leading cause of mortality worldwide. The report addresses numerous...

Investigators including Pitt Psychiatry’s Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology), have published a paper in Nature Medicine investigating the correlation between microglial activation, abnormal tau tangles (a...

The brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease has a few hallmark traits. First, a buildup of plaques made of proteins called amyloid beta. Second, are tangles of another protein, called tau, within individual neurons. A third major indicator is inflammation. While...

PITTSBURGH – Neuroinflammation is the key driver of the spread of pathologically misfolded proteins in the brain and causes cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of...

On June 9, 2021, the Department of Psychiatry held its 2nd virtual Research Day, featuring presentations on health equity research, a speed dat(a)ing session, a keynote address, and honors and awards.  The event was billed as a Research “Half” Day, as we hope and...

Acta Neuropathologica: Plasma P-Tau231, A New Biomarker for Incipient Alzheimer's Disease Pathology Scientists including Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology) from Pitt Psychiatry have published the discovery and...

We are pleased to announce that Victor Villemagne, MD, has joined the faculty as Professor of Psychiatry, and Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD, has been appointed Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. Villemagne and Dr. Pascoal are widely recognized experts in...

Dr. Tharick Pascoal is a clinical neurologist and a post-doctoral fellow at Douglas Hospital, McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Through his research, he aims to develop therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases through the identification of biomarkers of...