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The Pattern of Cortical Lesions in Preclinical Stages

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Neuroanatomy and Pathology of Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease

Part of the book series: Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology ((ADVSANAT,volume 215))

Abstract

As the pathological process progresses and secondary to the subcortical lesions described above, abnormal tau aggregates appear for the first time in the cerebral cortex generally in the transentorhinal region. AT8-ir lesions are present in neuronal processes, most probably in terminal portions of axons, and we designate such cases as having “cortical stage 1a” tau pathology (Table 2.1; Figs. 7.1 and 7.2). The predominantly radially aligned thread-like cellular processes are easier to see in unconventionally thick sections (Fig. 7.1a, b). A thin network of finely shaped and weakly AT8-ir neuronal processes (axons) together with more intensely immunostained dots develops. Sometimes, however, it is possible to follow several of the processes over longer distances, and they often end with a droplet-like swelling (Figs. 7.1c, d and 7.2a). All stage 1a cases show the presence of subcortical tau lesions resembling those found in stages a–c (see Sects. 5.1 and 5.2).

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  1. Zentrum f. Biomed. Forschung AG Klinische Neuroanatomie/Abteilung Neurologie, Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    Heiko Braak & Kelly Del Tredici

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Braak, H., Del Tredici, K. (2015). The Pattern of Cortical Lesions in Preclinical Stages. In: Neuroanatomy and Pathology of Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease. Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology, vol 215. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12679-1_7

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