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Earlier, it was noted that Alzheimer's disease (AD) attacks large networks in the brain involved in memories. But scientists are not clear as to how it is related to "misfolded proteins" observed by pathologists during autopsy.

While probing 128 participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, scientists looked at the activities of the default mode network of DMN, a brain system that is active while performing tasks involving memory, even while invoking mental constructs. They are related to measures of Alzheimer's proteins.

"We found that this load-shifting process itself may be a major culprit for the development of the Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Jones, the study's lead investigator and author, in a news release. "It is not unlike a cascading failure of a power grid.

"When a hub goes down, other areas of the network are forced to compensate. If the burden shift is too high, it blows off the circuits, and the power is down. This type of failure in our large brain networks may be responsible for the development of the Alzheimer's disease."

It is rather like cardiologists trying to lower blood pressure decades before plaques begin to develop in the heart's arteries, he said.

The study was published in the journal Brain.