Degenerative Disorders

Question 0

Alzheimer’s is defined by 3 main symptoms, what are they?

Answer 0

Reduced cognitive function, memory loss and dementia

Question 1

What two characteristics must a disease posses in order to be neurodegenerative?

Answer 1

It must be progressive and irreversible

Question 2

What are the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s?

Answer 2

Short term memory loss, clumsiness, dyspraxia, disorientation and reduced visuospatial orientation

Question 3

Alzheimer’s has later onset symptoms, where are?

Answer 3

Reduced social skills, psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations, bradykinesia and incontinence

Question 4

If an Alzheimer’s patient is improperly cared for, what could be their cause if death?

Answer 4

Starvation or infection due to bed sores

Question 5

What are the structural differences on an AD patients brain?

Answer 5

Smaller and lighter with decreased gyri and increased sulci and ventricles

Question 6

What brain regions are first affected by the AD?

Answer 6

The entominal cortex, which is connected to the hippocampus

Question 7

What are the implications of hippocampal damage in AD?

Answer 7

Contributes to memory loss

Question 8

What occurs in the temporal regions of an AD patients brain?

Answer 8

A reduction in metabolism

Question 9

Extra cellular plaques in the brain are caused by and lead to what in an AD patient?

Answer 9

Caused by amyloid beta protein build up, causing cholinergic neuronal loss and shrinkage

Question 10

A build up of a certain protein within nerve cells cause what during AD?

Answer 10

Hyperphosphorylated tau protein leads to neurofibrillary tangles

Question 11

Current AD treatments focus on what mechanism?

Answer 11

The inhibition of acetylcholinesterase in order to increase available acetylcholine

Question 12

What results from an increase in acetylcholine in an AD patient?

Answer 12

Reduced progression and increased cognition

Question 13

Multiple sclerosis symptoms can be categorised into 3 subsets, these are?

Answer 13

Motor changes, sensory changes and cognitive changes

Question 14

MS motor changes include what symptoms?

Answer 14

Tingling extremities, tiredness and pain

Question 15

MS sensory changes result in…?

Answer 15

Muscle weakness, lack of coordination, reduced balance and incontinence

Question 16

Cognitive changes that occur during MS are?

Answer 16

Reduced speech ability, personality changes, mood swings, and depression

Question 17

When MS displays a steady decline with superimposed attacks, what type of progression is this?

Answer 17

Progressive-relapsing MS

Question 18

A steady increase in disability associated with MS is described as what?

Answer 18

Primary progressive MS

Question 19

When unpredictable attacks occur during the decline in mental function of MS, it is known as?

Answer 19

Relapse-remitting MS

Question 20

If MS begins with attacks, which then become absent with just an increase in disability, the disease is described as what?

Answer 20

Secondary progressive MS

Question 21

What changes occur to brain structure in MS patients?

Answer 21

There is a loss in neural tissue and decrease in overall brain size, as the lateral ventricles enlarge

Question 22

What is the main cause if brain changes in MS?

Answer 22

The autoimmune destruction if oligodendrocytes

Question 23

What is the initial characteristic of Parkinson’s disease?

Answer 23

A tremor in distal limbs

Question 24

What are the progressive symptoms of PD?

Answer 24

Loss of movement, increased muscle tone, micrographics and akinesia

Question 25

Which functional brain region is affected in PD?

Answer 25

Substantia nigra

Question 26

What aspects if the CNS are affected in PD patients?

Answer 26

Astorocytes die and there is an increase in micro glia activation

Question 27

Which is the main secretory cells affected by PD?

Answer 27

The dopamine pathway, due to a decrease in DA producing cells

Question 28

What treatments are available for PD?

Answer 28

Levodopa is used to increase dopamine

Question 29

Which 5 major pathways are affected in PD?

Answer 29

Motor, oculomotor, associative, Limbic and orbitofrontal circuits

Question 30

How is Huntington’s disease acquired?

Answer 30

It is an inherited, autosomal dominant disorder

Question 31

What is the cause of Huntington’s disease?

Answer 31

A mutation leading to a polyglutamine (CAG) repeat in the gene coding for the protein huntingin

Question 32

What affect does the HD mutation have on the brain?

Answer 32

Reduces neurones in the cerebral cortex and the corpus striatum

Question 33

Which neurotransmitter pathways are affected by HD?

Answer 33

Gabaergic and cholinergic pathways

Question 34

What are the symptoms associated with HD?

Answer 34

Irritability, moodiness, antisocial behaviour, dementia, fidgeting and gross choreiform movements