Summary
Whereas the number of cortical neurons in human brain does not significantly change with age, there is a significant reduction of synaptic terminals in both normal aging brain and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Multivariant analysis of a cohort of AD patients showed a highly significant correlation between psychostatus and reduction of midfrontal synapses and large neurons, while there was no correlation with amyloid deposits. Another variable contributing to cognitive decline are numbers or neurofibrillary tangles and neuron loss in the cholinergic nucleus basalis of Meynert These and other recent morphologic data do not support the hypothesis that amyloid deposition is a major pathogenic factor of both neuronal and synaptic loss in aging and AD. The causes of synaptic pathology in AD remain to be elucidated.
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Terry, R.D., Masliah, E. (1994). Synaptic pathology in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer dementia. In: Jellinger, K.A., Ladurner, G., Windisch, M. (eds) New Trends in the Diagnosis and Therapy of Alzheimer’s Disease. Key Topics in Brain Research. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9376-1_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9376-1_1
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