PSYC 414 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Amyloid Precursor Protein, Frontotemporal Dementia, Neurofibrillary Tangle
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What is dementia? (cid:862)he does(cid:374)"t ha(cid:448)e alzhei(cid:373)e(cid:396)"s; he just has a (cid:271)it of de(cid:373)e(cid:374)tia(cid:863) General term for cognitive/intellectual decline late in life: memory problems, problems with communication (aphasia, p(cid:396)o(cid:271)le(cid:373)s (cid:272)a(cid:396)(cid:396)(cid:455)i(cid:374)g out (cid:862)o(cid:448)e(cid:396)lea(cid:396)(cid:374)ed(cid:863) (cid:373)o(cid:448)e(cid:373)e(cid:374)t (cid:894)ap(cid:396)a(cid:454)ia(cid:895, problems recognizing faces/objects (agnosia, problems with planning, problem solving (executive functioning) Interfere with daily functions: alzhei(cid:373)e(cid:396)"s disease (cid:894)60-80%, vascular dementia, dementia with lewy bodies (robin williams had this, frontotemporal dementia, alcohol related dementia. Underlying changes in the brain begin well before the first symptoms emerge: up to 10-20 years before symptoms, amyloid precursor protein -----> amyloid plaque (thought to be the first change, neurofibrillary tangles (with in the neuron) Over the years, the cognitive decline is much worse than the normal aging cognitive decline. Begins in the temporal lobes, then spreads to frontal, and eventually throughout more areas of the brain: brain damage accumulates over time and the brain mass itself shrinks.
