Peskin then examines how protein molecules that the body creates to defend against infection can attack brain cells, as in the case of a young woman thought to be having a psychotic break. This breakthrough led to an experimental drug that, as of 2018, proved 85% successful in short-circuiting the mechanisms responsible for setting Huntington’s in motion in those predisposed to the disease. Nancy Wexler, a Huntington’s sufferer and medical scientist, was one researcher who worked tirelessly to discover the exact nucleotide sequence of the Huntington’s gene. The first includes DNA mutations, like those present in Huntington’s disease. In this book, she delves into the three known molecular causes of cognitive decline. Peskin has been a firsthand witness to the suffering of Alzheimer’s patients she has been powerless to cure. A neurologist looks at how “the very molecules that make our brains work can also co-opt our personalities and destroy our ability to think.”
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