Pathology of Alzheimer's disease includes which of the following?

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Multiple Choice

Pathology of Alzheimer's disease includes which of the following?

Understanding Alzheimer disease pathology hinges on two main types of brain lesions that accumulate together and drive the degeneration. Extracellular beta-amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles form the hallmark lesions; their widespread presence leads to progressive cortical atrophy, especially in the hippocampus and association cortex, which underlies memory loss and cognitive decline. Beta-amyloid plaques arise from abnormal processing of the amyloid precursor protein, resulting in sticky extracellular deposits, while neurofibrillary tangles come from hyperphosphorylated tau that clumps inside neurons and disrupts microtubule function. As neurons die, there is a notable cholinergic deficit due to loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, contributing to the characteristic cognitive symptoms. This combination—plaques with tangles, cortical atrophy, and cholinergic loss—best captures the typical pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Other options point to different processes (for example, Lewy bodies are associated with another dementia, and tangles are not confined to the cerebellum).

Understanding Alzheimer disease pathology hinges on two main types of brain lesions that accumulate together and drive the degeneration. Extracellular beta-amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles form the hallmark lesions; their widespread presence leads to progressive cortical atrophy, especially in the hippocampus and association cortex, which underlies memory loss and cognitive decline. Beta-amyloid plaques arise from abnormal processing of the amyloid precursor protein, resulting in sticky extracellular deposits, while neurofibrillary tangles come from hyperphosphorylated tau that clumps inside neurons and disrupts microtubule function. As neurons die, there is a notable cholinergic deficit due to loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons, contributing to the characteristic cognitive symptoms. This combination—plaques with tangles, cortical atrophy, and cholinergic loss—best captures the typical pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Other options point to different processes (for example, Lewy bodies are associated with another dementia, and tangles are not confined to the cerebellum).

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