Dendritic spines provide cognitive resilience against Alzheimer's disease.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Neuroimaging and other biomarker assays suggest that the pathological processes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) begin years prior to clinical dementia onset. However, some 30 to 50% of older individuals who harbor AD pathology do not become symptomatic in their lifetime. It is hypothesized that such individuals exhibit cognitive resilience that protects against AD dementia. We hypothesized that in cases with AD pathology, structural changes in dendritic spines would distinguish individuals who had or did not have clinical dementia.

Methods

We compared dendritic spines within layer II and III pyramidal neuron dendrites in Brodmann area 46 dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using the Golgi-Cox technique in 12 age-matched pathology-free controls, 8 controls with AD pathology

SUBMITTER: Boros BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5744899 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature