Alzheimers

Question 1

what is dementia

Answer 1

a collection of symptoms caused by brain disorders that affect thinking. behaviour and ability to perform daily tasks

Question 2

some symptoms of dementia

Answer 2

• memory loss
• language difficulty
• disorientation of time and place
• forgetting daily tasks
• misplacing items
• changes in personality
• changes in mood
• loss of intiative
• poor judgement
• problems with abstract thinking

Question 3

what/describe 2 forms of alzheimers

Answer 3

Sporadic

• no family link
• most common
• complex combo of genes, env, and lifestyle
• age is greatest factor

Familial

• genetic link, ,runs in the family
• very rare, less than 5%

Question 4

what parts of the brain are affected by AD?

Answer 4

Entorhinal Cortex
- area of the brain that is a hub for a network for memory, nagivation, time perception
- located in the medial temporal lobe, lateral to the hippocampus
- sends input to hippocampus 
Cerebral Cortex
- fn is language and info processing 
- begins to shrink
Hippocampus
- fn is for new memory formation
- begins to shrink
Vesicles
- contains CSF and grows larger

Question 5

Describe the 2 major characteristics of AD

Answer 5

1. Senile Plaques/ Neuritic Plaques
   - extercellular accumulation of insoluble fragments of amyloid-beta
   - AB 42 most seen in AD
2. NFTs
   - intracellular accumlation of hypoerphosrylated tau strands

Question 6

what is the amyloid cascade hypothesis

Answer 6

the overproduciton of AB causes cell loss, NFTs, leading to dementia

Question 7

what is tau

Answer 7

• a heat stable protein for MT that allows MT assembly and organization
• 4 major components: N terminal, C terminal, MBD, and proline-rich domain
• has multiple binding sites which allow for many interactions with cell signalling

Question 8

what is the “sequence” that leads to NFTs?

Answer 8

Hyperphosphorylated tau -> Paired Helical Filaments -> Neurofirially Tau Tangles

Question 9

what are 3 main things biomarkers should do?

Answer 9

1. ability to diagnose AD with specificty and high sensitivity
2. ability to recognize intial stage of disease and montor progress of disease
3. be able to track the effectiveness of the therapeutic drugs