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Scientific article
English

Correlation of Alzheimer disease neuropathologic changes with cognitive status: a review of the literature

Contributors

Nelson, Peter T

Collaborators

Bouras, Constantin; Kovari, Eniko Veronika

Published in

Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology, vol. 71, no. 5, p. 362-381

Publication date

2012

Abstract

Clinicopathologic correlation studies are critically important for the field of Alzheimer disease (AD) research. Studies on human subjects with autopsy confirmation entail numerous potential biases that affect both their general applicability and the validity of the correlations. Many sources of data variability can weaken the apparent correlation between cognitive status and AD neuropathologic changes. Indeed, most persons in advanced old age have significant non-AD brain lesions that may alter cognition independently of AD. Worldwide research efforts have evaluated thousands of human subjects to assess the causes of cognitive impairment in the elderly, and these studies have been interpreted in different ways. We review the literature focusing on the correlation of AD neuropathologic changes (i.e. β-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles) with cognitive impairment. We discuss the various patterns of brain changes that have been observed in elderly individuals to provide a perspective for understanding AD clinicopathologic correlation and conclude that evidence from many independent research centers strongly supports the existence of a specific disease, as defined by the presence of Aβ plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Although Aβ plaques may play a key role in AD pathogenesis, the severity of cognitive impairment correlates best with the burden of neocortical neurofibrillary tangles.

Keywords

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease/complications/pathology
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides/metabolism
  • Brain/metabolism/pathology
  • Cognition Disorders/etiology/pathology
  • Humans
  • Neurofibrillary Tangles/pathology
  • Plaque, Amyloid/pathology
  • Statistics as Topic

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

NELSON, Peter T. Correlation of Alzheimer disease neuropathologic changes with cognitive status: a review of the literature. In: Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology, 2012, vol. 71, n° 5, p. 362–381. doi: 10.1097/NEN.0b013e31825018f7

Main files (1)

Article (Published version)

Identifiers

Journal ISSN

0022-3069
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Technical informations

Creation

20/09/2013 11:11:00

First validation

20/09/2013 11:11:00

Update

14/03/2023 20:26:28

Status update

14/03/2023 20:26:28

Last indexation

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