New findings from the Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center in the US have shown that Alzheimer’s disease moves along synapses in a similar way to infections meaning that the process could be stopped from spreading early on.

The findings were published in the report, ‘Trans-Synaptic Spread of Tau Pathology In Vivo’ on the online journal PloS ONE.

Dr Karren Duff, on of the authors of the report, said: "Everyone talks about Alzheimer's 'spreading', but there really has not been a standard theory.

"Most think that the disease just pops up in different areas of the brain over time, not that the disease actively jumps from one area to the next. Our findings show for the first time that the latter might be true."

In tests on mice the team found that tau, the abnormal protein that tangles fibres in the brains of those with Alzheimer's, moved from cell to cell along linked pathways through the nerve connections of the brain, travelling from the entorhinal cortex to the neocortex.

It's hoped these findings can help create new strategies for diagnosing and treating Alzheimer's. Duff added: "First, it would suggest that imaging tools that can detect entorhinal cortex dysfunction will be particularly helpful in diagnosing the earliest stages of the disease.

"More importantly, it might suggest ways of improving treatment - if it were possible to 'treat' Alzheimer's when it was first detected in the entorhinal cortex, this would prevent spread."