Stall Catchers is an online citizen science project developed by the Human Computation Institute in partnership with researchers at Cornell University. It allows anyone to contribute to Alzheimer's disease research by analyzing real data from the lab. Volunteers help identify "stalls"—blocked blood vessels in the brains of mice—which scientists believe may be linked to the progression of Alzheimer's. By crowdsourcing this task, Stall Catchers accelerates the pace of discovery and helps researchers test potential treatments more quickly; giving patients a chance to cherish the past before it disappears.
Every day, ordinary people like me are using modern tools like a laptop or phone to become the caretakers of remembrance—something very fragile and human. You might just be helping to preserve a grandfather's stories about Vietnam or a grandmother's history as a first-generation immigrant while playing this game. Each stall you help uncover is another chance to protect memories being erased by Alzheimer's. This is more than a game; it gives us hope that we might be able to save intergenerational histories, since we are playing for more than just research or points.
Learn more about how it works on the How It Works page, or visit the Human Computation Institute for more background on catching stalls.