Introduction: Neurodegenerative disorders are associated with different pathologies that often co-occur but cannot be measured specifically with in vivo methods.
Methods: Thirty-three brain hemispheres from donors with an Alzheimer's disease (AD) spectrum diagnosis underwent T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Gray matter thickness was paired with histopathology from the closest anatomic region in the contralateral hemisphere.
Tau neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) pathology in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is closely linked to neurodegeneration, and is the early pathological change associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). To elucidate patterns of structural change in the MTL specifically associated with tau pathology, we compared high-resolution ex vivo MRI scans of human postmortem MTL specimens with histology-based pathological assessments of the MTL. MTL specimens were obtained from twenty-nine brain donors, including patients with AD, other dementias, and individuals with no known history of neurological disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTau protein neurofibrillary tangles are closely linked to neuronal/synaptic loss and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Our knowledge of the pattern of neurofibrillary tangle progression in the human brain, critical to the development of imaging biomarkers and interpretation of in vivo imaging studies in Alzheimer's disease, is based on conventional two-dimensional histology studies that only sample the brain sparsely. To address this limitation, ex vivo MRI and dense serial histological imaging in 18 human medial temporal lobe specimens (age 75.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe temporal pole (TP) has been involved in multiple functions from emotional and social behavior, semantic processing, memory, language in humans and epilepsy surgery, to the fronto-temporal neurodegenerative disorder (semantic) dementia. However, the role of the TP subdivisions is still unclear, in part due to the lack of quantitative data about TP connectivity. This study focuses in the dorsolateral subdivision of the TP: area 38.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrematurity presents a risk for higher order cognitive functions. Some of these deficits manifest later in development, when these functions are expected to mature. However, the causes and consequences of prematurity are still unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe is a gross anatomical prominence in the medial temporal lobe (MTL), associated closely with Brodmann area 34 (BA34). It is formed largely by the medial intermediate subfield of the entorhinal cortex (EC) [Brodmann area 28 (BA28)]. Although the MTL has been widely studied due to its well-known role on memory and spatial information, the anatomical relationship between , BA34, and medial intermediate EC subfield has not been completely defined, in particular whether BA34 is part of the EC or a different type of cortex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe testing of cognitive enhancers could benefit from the development of novel behavioural tasks that display better translational relevance for daily memory and permit the examination of potential targets in a within-subjects manner with less variability. We here outline an optimized spatial 'everyday memory' task. We calibrate it systematically by interrogating certain well-established determinants of memory and consider its potential for revealing novel features of encoding-related gene activation.
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