Neuronal pathology in relation to molecular biology and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

Alois Alzheimer (1864–1915) combined the clinical and pathological approach to brain disease, and made the study of dementia his special sphere. In the course of these studies in 1907 he published the report ‘On a Peculiar Disease of the Cerebral Cortex’ (Uber eine eigenartige Erkrankung de Hirnrinde) (see Wilkins and Brody, 1969). This ‘peculiar disease’ was soon to be designated Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by Alois’s head of department, Kraepelin. The original report described a 56-year-old woman who had died following a five- to six-year illness characterized by disorientation, memory loss and personality changes. Post-mortem microscopic examination of cortical brain tissue revealed a high density of lesions currently described as senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, along with loss of pyramidal neurones.