Alzheimer's Disease: Advances for a New Century

The success of Alzheimer’s Disease: A Century of Scientific and Clinical Research, a retrospective of milestones in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) exploration coinciding with completion of the first century of AD research, led colleagues and our publisher to encourage us to examine the progress defining AD in the coming century. We employed a novel unbiased method to identify the most promising trends in the field of AD. Our method included scientometric indices and editorial guidance to assist us in developing a list of the 1,000 most cited articles in AD research in the five years since the centennial. From that list, we were able to identify the most active scientists during that time frame. Our goal was to cover the current interests in AD and reflect on the significance of these breakthroughs in the quest to understand, treat, and cure this devastating disease. While prior trends and advances in genetics, amyloid, tau, neuropathology, and oxidative stress continue as active areas, emergent areas of the transition from normal cognition to AD such as diagnostic imaging, biomarkers, metabolism, and lifestyle (areas conceived only a few years ago) now dominate the debate. Whether transformation from a field where basic molecular pathology was the sole avenue to one focused on clinical diagnosis and public health will result in therapeutic innovations remains to be seen.