[{"id":"da-pathway-amyloid-tau","kind":"pathway","name":"Amyloid and tau cascade (simplified)","aka":[],"tldr":"A simplified drawing of how amyloid and tau are often described in Alzheimer’s disease. Real brains are messier, and mixed pathology is common.","summary":"The cascade is a research frame: amyloid accumulation, then tau spread, then synaptic failure. Antibodies act on amyloid. Tau drugs are mostly still in trials. Vascular and Lewy pathology can sit on the same diagram in a real person.","asOf":"2026-09-21","links":[{"label":"NIA","url":"https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-and-dementia"}],"tags":["dementia-atlas"],"related":[],"cancers":["alzheimers-disease"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"analogy":"Think of amyloid as clutter that builds up first, and tau as the wiring that fails later. The drawing is a teaching sketch, not a complete biology textbook.","nodes":[{"id":"ab","label":"Amyloid-beta","x":20,"y":40,"targetId":"da-target-amyloid-beta"},{"id":"plaque","label":"Plaques","x":50,"y":40},{"id":"tau","label":"Tau","x":50,"y":70,"targetId":"da-target-tau"},{"id":"sym","label":"Symptoms","x":80,"y":55}],"edges":[{"from":"ab","to":"plaque","type":"activates"},{"from":"plaque","to":"tau","type":"activates"},{"from":"tau","to":"sym","type":"activates"}],"interventions":["Anti-amyloid antibodies act at plaques.","Cholinesterase inhibitors act later, on signalling, not on this cascade."]}]