An ordinary MRI can see Alzheimer's stirring seven years before today's scans do

Scientists at the University of Oslo followed more than 1,000 adults for up to 16 years and found that tiny changes in the brain's wrinkly outer layer — visible on a standard MRI — appear at least seven years before the telltale plaques show up on current scans. That longer runway could give future treatments a real head start: "The window to prevent or delay the disease is longer" than anyone thought, said physician Lucy Hooper, who was not involved in the work.