PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer's was made by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, where a test was created to detect the disease in the brain earlier. Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Thomas Karikari is one of countless researchers nationwide working to combat Alzheimer's.

Years before tau tangles show up in brain scans of patients with Alzheimer's disease, a biomarker test can detect small amounts of the clumping-prone tau protein and its misfolded pathological forms that litter the brain,