Alzheimer's Disease

What can we learn about memory?

Alzheimer's Disease is a serious degenerative brain disease. The main symptoms of the AD relate to memory impairment. Patients experience confusion, depression, hallucinations, delusions, sleeplessness and loss of appetite. AD affects episodic memory, a memory for events and personal experiences that occurred in a given place at a particular time, most severely. AD also affects semantic memory - a memory that stores general knowledge about the world, concepts and language. This disease starts in the hippocampus, the area of memory, and is caused by starchy tangles in the brain neurological system. As the symptoms of Alzheimer's worsen from mild forgetfulness to loss of the self, the mind and almost all of the patient's abilities because they forget how to use them, it eventually affects all areas of the brain (see below), and because there is no cure it inevitably leads to death. Over the age of 65, about 10% gets the disease and over 80, more than half develop the disease. The development of Alzheimers disease (AD): AD progresses through a series of stages. First, the MTLs (medial temporal lobe) are affected, in particular the hippocampus, which is very much involved in the formation of new memories. The brain of a patient with AD is found with a low concentrations of acetylcholine in the hippocampus, while the hippocampus of normal people contained higher concentration of acetylcholine. This is because of the severe brain tissue loss in the areas of the forebrain which are known to secrete acetylcholine. The brains of AD patients also show abnormal levels of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid plaques are caused by deposits in the brain of a sticky protein called amyloid-beta protein. This protein accumulates and damages the membranes of axons and dendrites. Neurofibrillary tangles are caused by accumulation of an abnormal form of the tau protein, which causes the structural support of neurons to collapse. Video introduction to the Biology of Alzheimers disease: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wv9jrk-gXc

References:
Help guide for Alzheimers disease: http://helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_disease_symptoms_stages.htm

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE SCIENCES: Nowotny, P., Kwon, J., & Goate, A.M. (2001) Alzheimers Disease:
http://web.udl.es/usuaris/e4650869/docencia/segoncicle/genclin98/malalties/AlzheimerDi sease.pdf Scientific American Article: Wolfe,M. (2006) Shutting Down Alzheimers http://classes.biology.ucsd.edu/bild87.SP07/Wolfe.pdf

Acetylcholine
Acetylcholine was the first neurotransmitter to be identified. It was discovered by Henry Hallett Dale in 1914 and its existence was later confirmed by Otto Loewi. Both individuals were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1936 for their discovery. Acetylcholine often abbreviated (ACh) and it is the most common neurotransmitter. It is located in both the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). It acts as a neuromodulator in the CNS and PNS. Rather than engaging in direct synaptic transmission between specific neurons, neuromodulators act on a variety of neurons throughout the nervous system. In the central nervous system, acetylcholine acts as part of a neurotransmitter system and plays a role in attention and arousal. In the peripheral nervous system, this neurotransmitter is a major part of the autonomic nervous system and works to activate muscles. Acetylcholine and memory: When we consider the biology of memory, it starts as a chemical response in the brain following sensory input. The first change comes at the level of the synapse--junctions between nerve cells. Acetylcholine plays a critical synaptic role in the initial formation of memory. We can think of short-term memory as resulting from a transient change in neurotransmitter levels at synapses. Treatments for memory-deficit problems, like Alzheimer's, in humans often involve enhancing the retention of acetylcholine in brain synapses. Aricept (donepezil hydrochloride), a drug marketed to prevent memory problems, acts by inhibiting the action of the enzyme in the brain that breaks down acetylcholine (acetylcholinesterase). People with moderate levels of dementia can show marked improvement with this sort of treatment.

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2006/News/WTX035387.htm

Videos:
Alzheimers disease facts and figures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In1IJocVor8 Introduction to the Biology of Alzheimers disease: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wv9jrk-gXc Alzheimer's Disease (Understanding Disease: Neurology) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8SLJ_7KRWs General information about Alzheimers disease Fishers Center for Research: http://www.alzinfo.org/aboutalzheimers/?mtc=google&kwd=alzheimers_disease&gclid=CILs1OCkvbUCFY3LtAodemwAoQ Improving Memory and Brain Function on the Path to Alzheimer's disease: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVuX5c8gnZ4