GFAP has been seen to increase with astrocyte activity (Simpson et al., 2010) and to be higher in human AD brains compared to controls (Vehmas et al., 2003; Ingelsson et al., 2004) and astrocytes surround plaques in the AD brain (Vehmas et al., 2003). The gene discussed is GFAP; the disease is Alzheimer disease.