People with the disease get plaques in their brains made up of a small protein called amyloid-beta, which clumps together and disrupts brain signals.

Research into new treatments for Alzheimer's, for example, has started to overturn what we thought we knew about the role of amyloid-beta proteins in the disease.

Cells in the hippocampus are susceptible to damage caused by amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs), toxic proteins that build up in people with Alzheimer's.