14.3

Question 1

What is the entorhinal cortex and where is it located?

Answer 1

Cortex located on the medial temporal lobe surface; provides a major route for neocortical input to the hippocampal formation; often degenerates in Alzheimer disease; involved in integrative memory functions

Question 2

What is the parahippocampal cortex and where is it located?

Answer 2

Cortex located along the dorsal medial temporal lobe surface; receives connections from parietal cortex and sends connections to entorhinal cortex; involved in visuospatial processing and memory

Question 3

What is the perirhinal cortex and where is it located?

Answer 3

Cortex lying next to the rhinal fissure on the ventral surface of the brain; receives connections from visual areas of the ventral stream; involved in visual object memory

Question 4

What is visuospatial memory?

Answer 4

Use of visual information to recall an object’s location in space

Question 5

What is the first area to show cell death in Alzheimer disease?

Answer 5

Entorhinal cortex

Question 6

What areas act as a gateway into the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus?

Answer 6

Parahippocampal and perirhinal cortices.

Question 7

What two principal neuronal changes take place in Alzheimer disease?

Answer 7

1. Loss of cholinergic cells in basal forebrain
2. Development of neuritic plaques in the cerebral cortex

Question 8

What is a neuritic plaque?

Answer 8

Area of incomplete necrosis (dead tissue) consisting of a central protein core (amyloid) surrounded by degenerative cellular fragments; often seen in the cortex of people with neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer disease