Dementia describes a decline in memory, thinking, and daily function caused by diseases like Alzheimer's, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Over 6 million Americans live with Alzheimer's alone. Until recently, treatment focused on managing symptoms, but new drugs that target amyloid plaques have opened a path toward slowing disease progression.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing anti-amyloid antibodies like lecanemab and donanemab, which received FDA approval in 2023 and 2024 to slow early Alzheimer's. Other research explores tau-targeting drugs, anti-inflammatory approaches, lifestyle interventions including diet and exercise, blood-based biomarkers for earlier detection, and treatments for non-Alzheimer's dementias that lack approved therapies. Researchers are also studying genetic risk factors and prevention in people without symptoms.
Anti-amyloid antibodies
Lecanemab and donanemab modestly slow cognitive decline in early Alzheimer's by clearing amyloid plaques from the brain. Ongoing trials are testing them in earlier stages and exploring whether starting treatment before symptoms appear could prevent dementia.
Tau-targeting drugs
Several drugs aim to stop tau tangles, which appear later than amyloid and may drive symptoms more directly. Trials are testing whether blocking tau spread can slow decline even after amyloid drugs.
Blood biomarkers
Blood tests can now detect Alzheimer's changes years before symptoms, potentially enabling earlier treatment. Studies are validating these tests for use in primary care and trial screening.
What to know before you search
Eligibility often depends on dementia type, disease stage, biomarker confirmation through brain imaging or blood tests, and whether the person has certain genetic variants like APOE4.
What types of trials are currently open
- Anti-amyloid trials — Testing antibodies that clear amyloid plaques, typically in people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's confirmed by brain imaging or blood tests.
- Anti-tau trials — Testing drugs that target tau tangles, which appear to drive nerve cell death in Alzheimer's and some other dementias.
- Prevention trials — Testing treatments in people at high genetic risk or with early biomarker changes but no symptoms, to see if dementia can be prevented.
- Lifestyle trials — Testing whether exercise, diet, cognitive training, or combinations of these can slow cognitive decline or reduce dementia risk.
- Non-Alzheimer's trials — Testing treatments for Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and vascular dementia, which lack approved disease-modifying therapies.
Recently added Dementia trials
Study on Clinical Characteristics of Patients With Probable Alzheimer's Dementia Stratified by Blood Biomarkers
This is a prospective, observational cohort study. The primary objective is to characterize the clinical features and mechanisms of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) who are plasma p-Tau217 negative, and to compare them with p-Tau217-positive patients. After grouping participants by an authoritative p-Tau217 cutoff value, the negative and positive groups will be systematically compared across all 12 domains of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Participants will be followed up at 6, 12, and 18 months to compare the incidence of cognitive decline, new-onset severe BPSD (hallucinations, agitation/aggression, depression, etc.), cerebrovascular events, and hospitalization between the two groups. As an exploratory objective, baseline BPSD domains combined with imaging (white matter hyperintensity burden) and blood biomarkers (NfL, IL-6, GFAP, etc.) will be used to construct a simple prognostic risk-stratification model within the negative group and to validate its predictive performance. The study aims to improve the recognition of non-AD-driven dementia with overlapping clinical presentations, thereby informing clinical management and care planning in the era of biology-based AD diagnosis.
A Prospective Cohort Study of Multimodal Biomarkers and Progression From Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia
This prospective, longitudinal observational cohort study will examine clinical, cognitive, blood-based, and neuroimaging features across the cognitive continuum. It will also assess whether these measures can distinguish disease stages and predict progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia. The study will enroll 600 participants. These will include 200 individuals without cognitive impairment, 200 with MCI, and 200 with dementia. The MCI group will comprise participants with Alzheimer disease-related MCI and non-Alzheimer disease-related MCI. The dementia group will be further characterized by clinical subtype (Alzheimer disease-related versus non-Alzheimer disease-related). At baseline, participants will undergo clinical evaluation, neuropsychological assessment, blood collection, and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging. Neuropsychological assessment, blood collection, and magnetic resonance imaging will be repeated at 12 months. No treatment will be assigned. The analyses will compare biomarker profiles across the study groups and examine relationships among blood biomarkers, neuroimaging findings, and cognitive performance. Clinical, cognitive, genetic, blood-based, and neuroimaging measures will then be integrated to develop diagnostic and risk-prediction models.
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