Skip to main content

A new approach to licking Alzheimer's

ASU researchers are studying dogs' memory loss, hoping to find clues for human disease


A dog sits, looking at the camera.
November 13, 2015

Man's best friend might prove an unexpected ally in the fight against Alzheimer's.

The disease affects more than 5 million Americans — and that number is expected to more than triple by 2050. Researchers at Arizona State University's Canine Science Collaboratory, led by professor Clive Wynne of the Department of PsychologyThe Department of Psychology is part of ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences., are studying dog memory and the effects of an Alzheimer's-like disease, canine cognitive dysfunction, with a maze and lots of treats.

The Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development visited the lab to see the dogs in action.

More Science and technology

 

A portrait of Kookjin Lee sitting on a bench with a laptop

New AI for a new era of discovery

As the legend goes, in 1665, Sir Isaac Newton sat in his garden at Woolsthorpe Manor in England and looked on as a lone apple dropped from a tree branch, falling straight down. This chance encounter…

A glowing pentagon on a maroon background

ASU receives 3 awards for research critical to national security

Three researchers in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University have received grant awards under the Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or…

JWST and HST

Celebrating 34 years of space discovery with NASA

This year, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is celebrating its 34th anniversary of the world's first space-based optical telescope, which paved the scientific pathway for NASA's James Webb Space…