Alzheimer's disease attacks nerve cells in several regions of the brain

A. Cerebral Cortex:

Involved in conscious thought and language.

B. Basal forebrain:

Has large numbers of neurons containing acetylcholine, a chemical important in memory and learning.

brain showing hippocampus etc.

C. Hippocampus: (the dark spiral shape seen in the middle)

Essential to memory storage.


The earliest signs of Alzheimer's are found in the nearby *entorhinal cortex* (not shown)

Hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease include neuritic plaques, (outside neurons), and neurofibrillary tangles (inside neurons).


After reading the above information, I contacted ADEAR and asked for more specific info concerning the entrohinal cortex since it was something I had never heard of. What follows is their description.

The last sentence however, is my own comment.


**The Entorhinal Cortex is a very small area located next to the hippocampus and is thought to be like a way-station. In otherwords, after memories are formed, it must pass through the entorhinal cortex to get to the hippocampus where the memory is stored.**

Which MAY explain why the hippocampus is one of the first areas to be affected by Alzheimer's.

~Special Note~

The above information was supplied to me by ADEAR

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