Dementia

Question 1

Alzheimer’s senile plaques

Answer 1

extracellular deposits of beta amyloid in the gray matter of the brain
Core = EC deposits of BA
Corona = degenerating neurites, mainly axons

Question 2

Where do microscopic changes happen in Alzheimer’s

Answer 2

Tends to be cortex but also subcortical areas

Question 3

Neurofibrillary tangles

Answer 3

Intracellular inclusion bodies, mainly consisting of hyperphosphorylated tau

Question 4

Name 5 tauopathies

Answer 4

1. Frontotemporal dementia
2. Progressive supranuclear palsy
3. Corticobasal syndrome
4. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (e.g. dementia pugilistica)
5. Alzheimer’s

Question 5

Gliosis

Answer 5

Increases in activated microglia and reactive astrocytes near the sites of amyloid plaques.

Question 6

Nucleus basalis/Basal nucleus of Meynert

Answer 6

Diffuse collection of large cholinergic (produce acetylcholine) neurons

Basal forebrain.

Question 7

Hirano bodies

Answer 7

Actin-rich, eosinophilic (they stain with the bright pink dye eosin) intracytoplasmic inclusions which have a highly characteristic crystalloid fine structure

Question 8

Hirano bodies seen in….

Answer 8

Glial cells and peripheral neurons

• Elderly hippocampi
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Pick’s disease
• Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease
• Alcoholism

Question 9

Difference between hirano bodies and lewy bodies

Answer 9

Lewy Bodies contain ubiquitin, hirano bodies don’t