Skip to main content

A Personal Account of How a Scientific Hypothesis Blooms into a Life of Its Own

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 1059 Accesses

Abstract

It was Monday and I was headed for the airport. That weekend had been spent sweating out the data from six previous experiments where long-term brain hypoperfusion had been induced in young and aged rats. My own brain needed a rest and I was looking forward to sleeping for a few hours on the flight from Montreal to Paris where I was scheduled to give a talk the next day.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Marshall RS. Effects of altered cerebral hemodynamics on cognitive function. J Alzheimers Dis. 2012;32(3):633–42.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. de la Torre JC, Fortin T, Park GA, Saunders JK, Kozlowski P, Butler K, de Socarraz H, Pappas B, Richard M. Aged but not young rats develop metabolic, memory deficits after chronic brain ischaemia. Neurol Res. 1992;14(2 Suppl):177–80.

    Google Scholar 

  3. de la Torre JC, Fortin T, Park GA, Butler KS, Kozlowski P, Pappas BA, de Socarraz H, Saunders JK, Richard MT. Chronic cerebrovascular insufficiency induces dementia-like deficits in aged rats. Brain Res. 1992;582(2):186–95.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. de la Torre JC, Fortin T. A chronic physiological rat model of dementia. Behav Brain Res. 1994;63(1):35–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Henderson B, de la Torre JC. Reversal of chronic ischemia in the adult rat: common carotid anastomosis and improvement in memory dysfunction. Soc Neurosci. 1999;25:55.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Gustafson L, Hagberg B. Emotional behaviour, personality changes and cognitive reduction in presenile dementia: related to regional cerebral blood flow. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl. 1975;257:37–71.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Hedlund S, Koheler V, Nylin G, Olsson R, Regnstroem O, Rothstroem E, Astroem KE. Cerebral blood flow in dementia. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1964;40:77–106.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Hagberg B, Ingvar DH. Intellectual impairment in presenile dementia related to regional cerebral blood flow. Act Nerv Super (Praha). 1977;19(Suppl 2):350–1.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Davis DG, Schmitt FA, Wekstein DR, Markesbery WR. Alzheimer neuropathologic alterations in aged cognitively normal subjects. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1999;58:376–88.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Giannakopoulos P, Herrmann FR, Bussiere T, Bouras C, Kövari E, Perl DP, Morrison JH, Gold G, Hof PR. Tangle and neuron numbers, but not amyloid load, predict cognitive status in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology. 2003;60:1495–500.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Price JL, McKeel DW Jr, Buckles VD, Roe CM, Xiong C, Grundman M, Hansen LA, Petersen RC, Parisi JE, Dickson DW, Smith CD, Davis DG, Schmitt FA, Markesbery WR, Kaye J, Kurlan R, Hulette C, Kurland BF, Higdon R, Kukull W, Morris JC. Neuropathology of nondemented aging: presumptive evidence for preclinical Alzheimer disease. Neurobiol Aging. 2009;30:1026–36.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Shimada H, Ataka S, Tomiyama T, Takechi H, Mori H, Miki T. Clinical course of patients with familial early-onset Alzheimer’s disease potentially lacking senile plaques bearing the E693Δ mutation in amyloid precursor protein. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2011;32(1):45–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Verclytte S, Lopes R, Lenfant P, Rollin A, Semah F, Leclerc X, Pasquier F, Delmaire C. Cerebral hypoperfusion and hypometabolism detected by arterial spin labeling MRI and FDG-PET in early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. J Neuroimaging. 2015. (In press).

    Google Scholar 

  14. de la Torre JC. Does brain microvessel pathology provoke Alzheimer’s disease? Soc Neurosci Abstr. 1992;18:564.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Fung YC. Biomechanics: circulation. New York: Springer; 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  16. de la Torre JC, Mussivand T. Can disturbed brain microcirculation cause Alzheimer’s disease? Neurol Res. 1993;15:146–53.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Kuhn TS. The structure of scientific revolutions. 3rd ed. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press; 1996, p. 24.

    Google Scholar 

  18. de la Torre JC. Impaired brain microcirculation may trigger Alzheimer’s disease. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1994;18(3):397–401.

    Google Scholar 

  19. de la Torre JC. Hemodynamic consequences of deformed microvessels in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1997;26(826):75–91.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Breteler MM. Vascular risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease: an epidemiologic perspective. Neurobiol Aging. 2000;21(2):153–60.

    Google Scholar 

  21. de Jong GI, Farkas E, Plass J, Keijser JN, de la Torre JC, Luiten PGM. Cerebral hypoperfusion yields capillary damage in hippocampus CA1 that correlates to spatial memory impairment. Neuroscience. 1999;91:203–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. de la Torre JC, Hachinski, V. (eds.) Cerebrovascular pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1997;826:1–523.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Salloway S, Sperling R, Fox NC, et al. Two phase 3 trials of bapineuzumab in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:322–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Doody RS, Thomas RG, Farlow M, et al. Phase 3 trials of solanezumab for mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:311–21.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. de la Torre JC. Critically attained threshold of cerebral hypoperfusion: the CATCH hypothesis of Alzheimer’s pathogenesis. Neurobiol Aging. 2000;21(2):331–42.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Leenders KL, Perani D, Lammertsma AA, Heather JD, Buckingham P, Healy MJR, Gibbs JM, Wise RJS, Hatazawa J, Herold S, Beaney RP, Brooks DJ, Spinks T, Rhodes C, Frackowiak RS, Jones T. Cerebral blood flow, blood volume and oxygen utilization. Brain. 1990;113:24–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. de la Torre JC. Alzheimer’s disease is a vasocognopathy: a new term to describe its nature. Neurol Res. 2004;26(5):517–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jack C. de la Torre .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

de la Torre, J.C. (2016). A Personal Account of How a Scientific Hypothesis Blooms into a Life of Its Own. In: Alzheimer’s Turning Point. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34057-9_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34057-9_14

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-34056-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-34057-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics