Despite a long history of failed drug candidates, the prevailing hypothesis is that amyloid-beta cascade and plaque formation are the principal causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Now, according to research published in Neuron, a new hypothesis, the Pathogen Hypothesis, posits that viral infection—specifically two non-STI herpes viruses—may play some role in early stages of the disease. This video from SciShow explains that researchers used mathematical modeling and brain banking samples to develop this hypothesis.
