Alzheimer's Neuropathology

Words: 469
Pages: 2
Open Document
Neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease
Introduction
Dementia is a chronic disorder of mental processing/thoughts. This can be caused by a broad category of brain diseases or even severe injury to the brain. An observation of dementia is that there is a long term gradual decrease in a person’s ability to think and remember things, which remarkably affects their daily activities and functions. There are four common types of dementia which are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia. The main focus of this paper is on Alzheimer’s disease which also happens to be the most common type of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) usually consists of 50% - 70% of patients …show more content…
The brain is made up of neurons which are interconnected to form a vast network. These connections consist of synapsis which enables the transmission of information from one neuron to another. In the case of AD, two main and distinct lesions form in the brain (formation begins years before symptoms are apparent). These lesions consist of senile plaques (composed of beta-amyloid proteins) and neurofibrillary tangles (composed of Tau proteins). The formation of senile plaques occurs when amyloid-beta is released during the sectioning/breakdown of amyloid precursor proteins APP (a large protein found on the surface of the neurons). Usually in healthy individuals, amyloid-beta is degraded/cleared out of the brain but in individuals with Alzheimer’s the protein is forms into a dimer and the trimers, these trimers collectively assembles into oligomers that become insoluble fibers. The oligomers float into the synapse and disconnect nerves cells that transmit information/memory. The disconnection also causes the nerve cells to die out. A buildup of amyloid-beta proteins is called an amyloid plaque. Over the years, experiments have shown that the large amyloid plaque is less toxic because it cannot float into the synapses. This is also based on the assumption that Alzheimer’s disease is formed as a result of the production and removal of the beta-amyloid
Show More

Related Documents: Alzheimer's Neuropathology

Living With Alzheimer’s disease Essay

HISTORY OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE A. Dr. Alois Alzheimer III. WHAT IS ALHEIMER’S DISEASE? A. Definition B. Warning Signs C. Symptoms D. Diagnosis IV. WHO’S AT RISK? A. Risk Factors B. Biological & Genetics C. Other Possible Causes V. TREATMENTS A. Pharmacological Treatments B. Surgical C. Therapeutic VI. THE FUTURE OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE VII. CONCLUSION VIII. REFERENCE LIST Abstract As per the Alzheimer’s Association, An estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease…

Words 2826 - Pages 12

Take Home Exam Essay

to immunodegenerative diseases such as, Alzheimer, and Multiple Sclerosis, and HIV (Graeber & Streit, 2010). For example, the nerve degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease is associated with the over activation of microglia (Li et al., 2014). It is hypothesized that a positive feedback loop will be initiated once microglial cells are active in Alzheimer’s disease due to A-beta deposition and aging (Li et al., 2014). As a result of the feedback loop, microglial cells will start secreting neurotoxic free…

Words 2936 - Pages 12

Zellweger Syndrome Lab Report

The Role of Peroxisome on Zellweger Syndrome BCHM 310 Tiffany Fong 06220576 Mitochondrial β-oxidation is responsible for the oxidation of the bulk of the short, medium and long chain Fas. However, due to the lack of acyl-CoA synthease, mitochondria cannot process the degradation of very long-chain fatty acids (>C20). Hence, in order to process these long chains it requires the peroxisomal β-oxidation system. There are two systems in peroxisome that contributes to its breakdown of fatty acids…

Words 2255 - Pages 10

aging Essay example

COGNITIVE AND PERCEPTUAL FACTORS IN AGING AND DRIVING PERFORMANCE* Edward J. Rinalducci, Mustapha Mouloua, and Janan Smither Department of Psychology University of Central Florida Final Technical Report No. VPL-03-01 Visual Performance Laboratory Department Of Psychology University of Central Florida Orlando, Fl. 32816-1390 Technical Report submitted to the Florida Department of Transportation, Tallahassee under grant number 16-21-713 to the University of Central Florida and CATSS:…

Words 6952 - Pages 28