Though we don’t yet fully understand what causes dementia, many scientists think that the build-up of “amyloid plaques” and “tau tangles” in the brain can be a precursor to Alzheimer’s.

This seems to happen when deposits of the two proteins grow around brain cells.

And according to recent research published in Nature Neuroscience, another protein – Sox9 – could be responsible for clearing them.

Speaking to Baylor University, study co-author Dr Benjamin Deneen said that increasing levels of the protein, which “regulates astrocyte functions during ageing”, helped to clear plaques “from the brain like a vacuum cleaner” in mice.

Why might the protein help to boost dementia defences?

In this study, it appeared to have a knock-on effect on star-shaped cells in the brain called astrocytes.

First author Dr Dong-Joo Choi

© HuffPost