How does alcohol affect memory? NIH-funded study aims to find out
Oct. 21, 2025
Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia and a growing concern as people live longer. Drinking alcohol can accelerate brain aging and increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Alcohol may worsen the disease by disrupting the brain’s ability to use glucose (sugar) for energy and protein regulation and by lowering NAD⁺, a key molecule needed to remove chemical tags from proteins,” said Takhar Kasumov, Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at NEOMED. “These changes interfere with acetylation, a process that controls gene activity and the breakdown of proteins such as tau. In Alzheimer’s disease, abnormal tau proteins accumulate and damage brain cells.”
Dr. Kasumov recently received notice of a grant award from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health to study how alcohol affects the brain. Specifically, the two-year, $439,865 grant will support a project examining acetylation changes in alcohol-associated Alzheimer’s disease.
The project builds on Dr. Kasumov’s previous research in metabolism and protein homeostasis (see his recent publications in this field here and here).
“In collaboration with Drs. Sheila Fleming and Christine Dengler-Crish, this project will examine how alcohol affects brain chemistry and memory. We will measure how alcohol alters tau and histone acetylation, brain energy use and protein recycling using advanced ‘heavy’ isotope tracing and drugs that target these processes,” Dr. Kasumov explained. “We will also test whether boosting NAD⁺ levels or blocking specific enzymes can counteract alcohol’s harmful effects.”
Dr. Kasumov hopes that the current research will have application for prevention or treatment of alcohol-associated Alzheimer’s disease.
“By revealing how alcohol accelerates tau-related brain damage, this research could identify new strategies to protect the aging brain and reduce dementia risk,” he said.
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