Alzheimer’s disease and other common dementia disorders

Question 1

What tissue samples are often studied by a neuropathologist?

Answer 1

Neurosurgical samples, Muscle biopsies and Post-mortem CNS examinations

Question 2

What are the five most common immunohistochemistry stainings used to study neurodegenerative disorders?

Answer 2

• Beta-amyloid
• Tau
• Alpha-synnuclein
• pTDP43
• p62

Question 3

What is the definition of dementia?

Answer 3

Dementia is a syndrome defined as a decline in daily functioning due to cognitive impairment

Question 4

What are the most common underlying diseases causing dementia?

Answer 4

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Lewy body dementia
• Frontotemporal lobar degeneration
• Vascular dementia

Question 5

What are the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 5

Anterograde amnestic syndrome, memory imparement, problems in abstract reasoning and executive functions, language problems, visuospatial problems, mood and personality changes and psychiatric symptoms

Question 6

What neuropathological changes are seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients?

Answer 6

• Intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (Tau)
• Extraneuronal neuric plaques (beta-amyloid)
• Amyoloidagiopathy (beta-amyloid)

Question 7

What are the most common genes causing early-onset Alzheimer’s?

Answer 7

APP, PS1 and PS2

Question 8

What are the basic causes of early-onset versus sporadic Alzheimer’s?

Answer 8

Familial AD: overexpression of beta-amyloid
Sporadic AD: Accumulation of beta-amyloid due to defective clearance

Question 9

What types of mutations have been shown to cause Alzheimer’s?

Answer 9

Mutations related to beta-amyloid.
Mutations in microglia and their clearance of beta-amyloid

Question 10

Can Tau cause Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 10

No, mutations in Tau does not cause the disease, but Tau accumulation is strongly correlated with Alzheimer’s, and considered to be a down-stream effect of beta-amyloid accumulation.

Question 11

What are the symptoms of dementia with lewy bodies?

Answer 11

• Progressive, fluctuating cognitive failure
• Visual hallucinations
• Parkinsonism
• Sensitivity to certain drugs

Question 12

What are the neuropathological symptoms of dementia with lewy bodies?

Answer 12

Neuronal loss and accumulations of alpha-synuclein as Lewy bodies and neurites in the sustatia nigra, limbis areas and cortex

Question 13

What is the most predominant symptom of Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD)?

Answer 13

Changes in behavior (agression, impulsive behavior, disinhibition)