Neuropathology of Alzheimers disease: what is new since A. Alzheimer?
Alzheimer’s disease results from severe cytoskeletal alterations in only a few neuronal types within the human central nervous system. These intraneuronal changes take the form of neurofibrillary tangles and neuropil threads. Beginning in predisposed induction sites in the allocortex, the lesions follow a predictable sequence as they engulf other territories of the cerebral cortex and a specific set of subcortical nuclei. Some components of the brain are devastated, while others remain intact until the end phase of the disease. Assessment of the location of the afflicted neurons and the severity of the lesions allows the distinction of stages in the development of the disease. The degenerative process begins with the emergence of the first lesions, at whatever age it occurs. The illness remains subclinical for years, and proceeds inexorably, gradually laying waste to higher order limbic system centers. Clinical symptoms are observed only late in the course of the disease, and their app
