Passage: Alzheimer's disease is characterized by loss of neurons and synapses in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions. This loss results in gross atrophy of the affected regions, including degeneration in the temporal lobe and parietal lobe, and parts of the frontal cortex and cingulate gyrus. Degeneration is also present in brainstem nuclei like the locus coeruleus. Utafiti kwa kutumia MRI na PET umeonyesha kupungua kwa ukubwa wa maeneo maalum ya ubongo kwa watu wenye AD kama walivyoendelea kutoka kwa udhaifu mdogo wa utambuzi hadi ugonjwa wa Alzheimer's, na ikilinganishwa na picha zinazofanana kutoka kwa wazee wenye afya. Amyloid plaques na neurofibrilles zinaonekana wazi kwa microscopy katika ubongo wa wale walioathirika na AD. Plaques ni ngumu, hasa hujaa ya beta-amyloid peptide na plaque ya seli ya nje ya ubongo na plaque ya neuronal.
mabaki ya beta-amyloid peptide na vifaa vya seli nje na karibu neurons