Molecular Neurobiology of Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders

Alzheimer’s disease affects 6 – 10% of the elderly population, causing impairment in cognitive functions and significant disability in daily living for more than ten years. Neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid deposits and neuronal loss are the three hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Due to insolubility of these unique structures in Alzheimer brain tissue, they were very difficult to study by usual biochemical methods in the past. Active research is now going on to elucidate the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Major topics of neurobiological study of Alzheimer’s disease include the unraveling of the molecular mechanism of neurofibrillary tangle formation in neuronal and glial cells, the molecular processing of amyloid precursor protein in intracellular organella and in extra-cellular space, and the molecular mechanism of neuronal loss. The articles in this book were selected from contributions presented by leading scientists in this field at the international symposium which took place in Osaka in 2002. This publication is essential reading for all researchers, clinicians, basic and social scientists, neurologists and psychiatrists to promote the understanding of this formidable disease.