On the Influence of Alzheimer's Disease on Interneural Communication via Extracellular Vesicles

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and brings many challenges for patients, caregivers, and the healthcare system. While the exact cause of AD is an open research question, early diagnosis can help to slow the progression of the disease. This work illustrates the impact of AD on a modeled neuron-to-neuron communication link based on extracellular vesicles (EVs). Specifically, it is demonstrated how two system parameters, namely sodium conductance at the cell membrane and tortuosity in the extracellular matrix of the brain, negatively affect the number of EVs arriving at the receiving neuron by inducing the decreased excitability, delay, and smoothing effect. Furthermore, the signal-to-baseline ratio (SBR) is introduced as a novel metric describing the resulting decrease in communication. Despite its limitations, the presented model potentially, after clinical validation, lays the foundation for the development of an early AD diagnosis system and contributes to the understanding of neuronal diseases.