Journal ArticleDOI
Life and Death of Neurons in the Aging Brain
John H. Morrison,Patrick R. Hof +1 more
TLDR
The qualitative and quantitative differences between aging and Alzheimer's disease with respect to neuron loss are discussed, and age-related changes in functional and biochemical attributes of hippocampal circuits that might mediate functional decline in the absence of neuron death are explored.Abstract:
Neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by extensive neuron death that leads to functional decline, but the neurobiological correlates of functional decline in normal aging are less well defined. For decades, it has been a commonly held notion that widespread neuron death in the neocortex and hippocampus is an inevitable concomitant of brain aging, but recent quantitative studies suggest that neuron death is restricted in normal aging and unlikely to account for age-related impairment of neocortical and hippocampal functions. In this article, the qualitative and quantitative differences between aging and Alzheimer's disease with respect to neuron loss are discussed, and age-related changes in functional and biochemical attributes of hippocampal circuits that might mediate functional decline in the absence of neuron death are explored. When these data are viewed comprehensively, it appears that the primary neurobiological substrates for functional impairment in aging differ in important ways from those in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease.
TL;DR: It is important to recognize that distinguishing between Alzheimer's disease, especially in its early stages, and normal aging may be very difficult, particularly if one is examining the brains of patients who died at an advanced old age.
Journal ArticleDOI
Precursor form of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor are decreased in the pre-clinical stages of Alzheimer's disease.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the reduction of both forms of BDNF occurs early in the course of AD and correlates with loss of cognitive function, suggesting that proBDNF and BDNF play a role in synaptic loss and cellular dysfunction underlying cognitive impairment in AD.
Journal ArticleDOI
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor: A Key Molecule for Memory in the Healthy and the Pathological Brain.
TL;DR: It is proposed that, although BDNF may not be a valid biomarker for neurodegenerative/neuropsychiatric diseases, it could be thought of as a marker that specifically relates to the occurrence and/or progression of the mnemonic symptoms that are common to many pathological conditions.
Journal ArticleDOI
Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial DNA Mutation, and Impairment of Antioxidant Enzymes in Aging
Yau-Huei Wei,Hsin Chen Lee +1 more
TL;DR: Work done in the past few years is reviewed to support the view that oxidative stress and oxidative damage are a result of concurrent accumulation of mtDNA mutations and defective antioxidant enzymes in human aging.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Evolution of Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease: Implications for Prevention Trials
TL;DR: Recent progress in cognitive, imaging, and biomarker outcomes in the field of preclinical Alzheimer's disease, and the remaining gaps in knowledge are highlighted.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Neuropathological stageing of Alzheimer-related changes.
Heiko Braak,Eva Braak +1 more
TL;DR: The investigation showed that recognition of the six stages required qualitative evaluation of only a few key preparations, permitting the differentiation of six stages.
Journal ArticleDOI
A synaptic model of memory: long-term potentiation in the hippocampus
TL;DR: The best understood form of long-term potentiation is induced by the activation of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor complex, which allows electrical events at the postsynaptic membrane to be transduced into chemical signals which, in turn, are thought to activate both pre- and post Synaptic mechanisms to generate a persistent increase in synaptic strength.
Journal ArticleDOI
Long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the perforant path.
Timothy V. P. Bliss,T. Lømo +1 more
TL;DR: The after‐effects of repetitive stimulation of the perforant path fibres to the dentate area of the hippocampal formation have been examined with extracellular micro‐electrodes in rabbits anaesthetized with urethane.
Journal ArticleDOI
A new clinical scale for the staging of dementia.
TL;DR: The Clinical Dementia Rating (CRD) was developed for a prospective study of mild senile dementia—Alzheimer type (SDAT), and was found to distinguish unambiguously among older subjects with a wide range of cognitive function.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD): Part II. Standardization of the neuropathologic assessment of Alzheimer's disease
Suzanne S. Mirra,Albert Heyman,Daniel W. McKeel,S. M. Sumi,Barbara J. Crain,L. M. Brownlee,Vogel Fs,James P. Hughes,van Belle G,Leonard Berg +9 more
TL;DR: The Neuropathology Task Force of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) has developed a practical and standardized neuropathology protocol for the postmortem assessment of dementia and control subjects, which provides neuropathologic definitions of such terms as “definite Alzheimer's disease” (AD), “probable AD,” “possible AD” and “normal brain” to indicate levels of diagnostic certainty.