Alzheimer Disease

P.S.TCoursera

• Identify the parts of the nervous system that are active in your example.

• Describe the functions of the nervous system that are apparent and/or impaired in your example.

• Explain in detail the ways in which this course has allowed you to better analyze the events and phenomena around you.

• Identify the parts of the nervous system that are active in your example.

• Describe the functions of the nervous system that are apparent and/or impaired in your example.

• Explain in detail the ways in which this course has allowed you to better analyze the events and phenomena around you.

Example

• One person have loss of memories because she isn’t able to remember where she keeps some things.

• Finally, she is diagnosed of Alzheimer Desease.

ALZHEIMER DESEASE

• Alzheimer’s disease(AD) is the most frequent type of dementia, being present in the 50-70% of all cases. It is estimated that over 36.6 million people suffer AD world-wide

• AD is characterized by cognitive impairment. It is a late-onset, chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder beginningwith mild symptoms and a final-stage comprising severe cognitive alterations, memory loss, deformed personality andcomplete dependence on external care.

• This process usually covers extended periods of 10-20 years[1]. The areas affected In the Alzheimer's brain are shown in Fig 1.

• Earliest Alzheimer's - changes may begin 20 years or more before diagnosis.

• Mild to moderate Alzheimer's stages - generally last from 2 - 10 years.

• Severe Alzheimer's - may last from 1 - 5 years.

Areas affected by AD. a) Earliest Alzheimer’s. b) Mild to moderate Alzheimer’s stages. c) Isevere Alzheimer’s.(Adapted from Alzheimer AssociationR Alz.org)

INTRODUCTION

Alzheimer’s disease • It is a late-onset and progressive neurodegenerative disorder

Amyloid-cleavage pathways.

Genes where mutatations cause FAD: APP,PS1 and PS2. (Adapted from Nature ReviewsImmunology 9, 429-439)

There are many factors such as physical, genetic or epigenetic causes that can promote AD. Only 1% or less of allAD cases are familiar(FAD), which are purely genetic and inherited dominantly. Genes that when mutated causeFAD are APP, PS1 and PS2 which are involved in the processing of APP. Most of AD cases are sporadic(SAD), whichstart in people over 65, and with the age as the only known determining factor. However, little is known about SADcauses.

Major features of AD.( Adapted from Sung Min et al. InTech; 2011)

Major features of AD• Extracellular amyloid plaques.

• Hyperphosphorylated tau.

• Mitochondrial failure.

It is one of the most prominent features of AD.

Neurons depend on mitochondrial functions,especially for their energy supply in the synapsis.

INTRODUCTION

ALZHEIMER DESEASE

Anatomical position

Temporal lobe is located beneath the lateral fissureon both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalianbrain.This is involved in the retention of visual memories,processing sensory input, comprehending language,storing new memories, emotion, and derivingmeaning

Frontal lobe is located at the front of each cerebralhemisphere and positioned anterior to the parietallobe and superior and anterior to the temporal lobes.This contains most of the dopamine-sensitive neuronswhich is associated with reward, attention, short-term memory tasks, planning, and motivation

Areas affected by AD.

• First stage

In the earliest stages, before symptoms can be detected with current tests, plaques and tangles begin to form in brain areas involved in:

•Learning and memory•Thinking and planning

Anatomical position

ALZHEIMER DESEASEAreas affected by AD.

• Mild to moderate stages

Brain regions important in memory and thinking andplanning develop more plaques and tangles than werepresent in early stages.

Plaques and tangles also spread to areas involved in:•Speaking and understanding speech•Your sense of where your body is in relation to objectsaround you.

Parietal lobe is positioned above the occipital lobeand behind the frontal lobe and central sulcus.Several portions of the parietal lobe are important inlanguage processing.The main function is interpretation of the position ofthe body in accordance to the other objects in itssurroundings.

The right parietal lobe function includesinterpretation of spatial information and regulationof ones personality.

The left parietal lobe function includes theability to understand numbers, manipulation ofdifferent objects and perform writing tasks.

ALZHEIMER DESEASEAreas affected by AD.

• Advance stage

In advanced Alzheimer's disease, most of the cortex is seriouslydamaged. The brain shrinks dramatically due to widespread celldeath.

• The cortex shrivels up, damaging areas involved inthinking, planning and remembering

• Shrinkage is especially severe in the hippocampus.

• Ventricles grow larger.

Anatomical position

cerebral cortex is the outermost layered structure of neuraltissue of the cerebrum. It is divided into two cortices, along thesagittal plane, covering the left and right cerebral hemispheres.The mayor function are connections between thalamus and basalganglia, the sensory receives and processes information from thesense and motor areas are very closely related with voluntarycontrol

Hippocampus is an area of thecortex that plays a key role information of new memories. tbelongs to the limbic system andplays important roles in theconsolidation of information fromshort-term memory to long-termmemory and spatial navigation.

• Identify the parts of the nervous system that are active in your example.

• Describe the functions of the nervous system that are apparent and/or impaired in your example.

• Explain in detail the ways in which this course has allowed you to better analyze the events and phenomena around you.

• This course has allowed me to understand how the brain is able tosend commands to others parts of human body to perform differentactions.

• Furthermore, I have learned almost all of the brain pathologies and Ihave understood how it affects in the diary routine of sick person.

• I would recommend this course to people which could be interested inneuroscience because they could learn in an easier manner andrapidly.

Alzheimer Disease

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