Further understanding of how MLR and Cav-1 serve as a nexus for pro-survival and pro-growth signaling components may not only provide potential therapeutic targets for the preservation of neuronal function, but may also yield tools that could augment the brain's capacity to reorganize its neuronal networks following injury or during late stages of neurodegenerative diseases such as AD and other forms of dementia. This evidence concerns the gene CAV1 and Alzheimer disease.