Human-Based Research Provides Much Needed Insight Into Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

Ten percent of Americans over the age of 65 suffer from dementia, experiencing severe decline in memory and cognitive skills that impacts a person's ability to perform everyday tasks. Alzheimer’s disease, a leading cause of dementia, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily known for memory loss that can also significantly impact motor skills. Clinical data suggest that early signs of Alzheimer’s disease include slowed or changed gait, decreased muscle strength, and loss of fine motor skills.

Despite initial studies observing motor deficit symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, this area is not well understood and there are currently no drugs that are designed to improve neuromuscular impairment in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers at Hesperos, a biotechnology company focused on human-on-a-chip technologies to improve preclinical drug development, and collaborators developed a new human-based model to better understand and evaluate motor deficit symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. 

They created a human cell-derived organ chip model of the neuromuscular junction: a microscopic connection between a motor neuron and a muscle fiber that transmits signals to trigger muscle contractions. The model incorporated cells carrying genetic variants that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease and demonstrated changes in motor neuron signaling and muscle contraction over time, suggesting that these variants cause impairments in the neuromuscular junction and can decrease stability and increase muscle fatigue in patients with Alzheimer’s.

These findings also suggest that although Alzheimer’s disease is traditionally characterized as a central nervous system cognitive disorder, it can also impact motor function in an independent manner via the peripheral nervous system.

Chief scientist at Hesperos and senior author of this study, James J. Hickman, PhD, notes that this work “should change the drug development paradigm for [Alzheimer’s disease]” by identifying a need for effective treatments that address both the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system impairments. 

Species-specific biological and physiological differences between humans and nonhuman animals limit how accurately Alzheimer’s disease research using animals can replicate the biological mechanisms and development of the disease in humans. Human-based methods such as the one used in this study can avoid these differences, leading to more effective, patient-specific treatments.  

By communicating with key National Institutes of Health advisory groups, the Physicians Committee works to ensure that research developing and using human-based methods is prioritized, to bring us closer to much-needed treatments. 

Read the Study: Kargazhanov A, Aiken R, Hawkins K, et al. Evaluating the peripheral nervous system pathology utilizing a functional human NMJ microphysiological system. Alzheimer’s & Dementia. 2026;22(4):e71281. doi:10.1002/alz.71281 

Learn More: Hesperos and UCF Researchers Publish human-on-a-Chip Study Revealing Peripheral Neuromuscular Pathology is not CNS Dependent in Alzheimer’s Disease. News Release. Hesperos. 16 April 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://hesperosinc.com/ad-pns-publication/