Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, and the number of patients is steadily increasing as life expectancy continues to rise. One of the disease's main causes is the accumulation of "junk" proteins in the brain: altered variants of the usually occurring amyloid protein that are not properly removed because they clump improperly. Previous research from the University of Milan found that low-intensity electrical brain stimulation, or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), could temporarily help patients. Subsequent investigations supported this conclusion but were unable to explain why. A recent study conducted by a team of researchers from the Departments of Biosciences and Health Sciences at the University of Milan has made a substantial contribution to our understanding of this phenomena. The study, published in the journal Amyloid, is based on computational data gathered from computer simulations. In a molecular simulation model, an amyloid molecule was subjected to an electric field to replicate its activity and examine what happened to the molecule. The study's most noteworthy finding is that the electric field may modify the surface properties of the amyloid fibril and impede its elongation, a process that contributes to the creation of disease-specific plaques. The results suggest that the effect of tDCS is partially due to the modifications to the amyloid fibril structure that its static electric field induces. This alteration has the potential to impede plaque formation and, in turn, the progression of the disease. The study is the outcome of an interdisciplinary partnership among physicists, physicians, and engineers, as well as an interdepartmental one. "This study is based on molecular dynamics simulations and should be considered as such, but it offers an explanation that could explain the biological and clinical effects, further supporting the use of tDCS and related techniques in patients", says Professor Alberto Priori, coordinator of the Aldo Ravelli Research Center for Experimental Neurological Therapies at the University of Milan.