Neuropathology Flashcards
what is the most commonly used pathological stain?
Haemotoxylin and eosin -stains nuclei blue (acidic stuff) -stains proteins red
what is the significance of H&E?
80% of neuropathological diagnosis made using H&E
what proteins would you get antibodies to test for axons, cells bodies, cell bodies + dendrites and synapses?
-axons - phosphorylated neurofilament - cell bodies - non-phosphorylated neurofilament -cell bodies+ dendrites - MAP-2 -synapses - synaptophysin
what stain do you use for astrocytes?
GFAP
What are the immune cells in the brain?
Microglia
What are watershed infarcts?
regions in the brain at the edge of 2 blood suppliy territories are susceptible to a global decrease in cerebral blood flow causing infarcts in these areas
How do you get rid of intractable pain?
cordotomy
What is the locus coeruleus? what disease is it implicated in?
pigmented nuclei in the superior pons
noradrenaline producing
degenerates in PD
What degenerates in an alcoholics brain?
the cerebellar vermis + mamillary bodies
What pigments the sunbstania nigra? where does it come from?
neuromelanin - byproduct of the production of dopamine
What happens in the substantia niagra in PD?
- loss of dopaminergic neurones
- death of cells releases neuromelanain
- neuromelanin taken up my macrophages
- loss of black colour
What can happen if there is a failure of function of the cillia on the ependymal cells that line the ventricles
a build up of CSF causing hydrocephalus
What are the pathways of the Basal ganlia? and what do they do?
direct - allows movement
indirect - inhibits movement
What nuclei is important in the direct pathway?
Substantia nigra - as it potentiates the pathway
without it movements are difficult to iniate and not smooth
What is lost in huntington’s disease?
global atrophy
caudate atrophies away entirely (flattened and concaved head)
What is the main source of chollinergic input to the brain? where is this found?
nucleus basalis of meynert
near hypothalamus
What nucleus does alzeimer’s disease affect?
Nucleus basalsis of meynert
How and why does donepezil work for AD?
Ad affects the nucleus basalis of meynert causing a decrease in Ach
Donepezil is an Achesterase inhibitor therefore increases Ach available
What parts of the hippocmapus is ‘whacked’ in epilepsy?
CA4 , CA3, CA2, PARTICULARLY CA1
What is the main input in to hippocampus?
perforant pathway from teh entorhinal cortex
What is the main output of the hippocampus?
the alveus - to the fimbrae - to the fornix
describe the spreading of Tau pathology in AD.
starts in the anterior hippocampus
spreads to the posterior
spreads to the entire cortex (starts in the temporal then goes to occipital)
