Pathophysiology of Alzheimer's Disease

Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2022 Dec;45(4):663-676. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2022.07.003. Epub 2022 Oct 14.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease leading to dementia worldwide. While neuritic plaques consisting of aggregated amyloid-beta proteins and neurofibrillary tangles of accumulated tau proteins represent the pathophysiologic hallmarks of AD, numerous processes likely interact with risk and protective factors and one's culture to produce the cognitive loss, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and functional impairments that characterize AD dementia. Recent biomarker and neuroimaging research has revealed how the pathophysiology of AD may lead to symptoms, and as the pathophysiology of AD gains clarity, more potential treatments are emerging that aim to modify the disease and relieve its burden.

Keywords: Aducanumb; Alzheimer’s disease; Amyloid; Dementia; Pathophysiology; Tau.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease* / metabolism
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases*
  • tau Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • tau Proteins
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides