Dementia + The brain

Question 1

Introduction to Dementia

Answer 1

• dementia = progressive degenerative disease affecting the brain + nervous system
  -characterised by: loss of brain cells + shrinking of brain, change in personality

Question 2

Other Dementias

Answer 2

AD: 60 % of cases
- other forms: vascular, focal, subcortical

Question 3

consequences for soc + health provisions + Stats

Answer 3

• Risk of AD doubles every 5 years after aged 65
• Age is highest risk factor
• more elderly women with Dementia
• 4 2% of people in UK have family with dementia
• Annual cost of each patient estimated at 25.000 a year

Question 4

symptoms of AD - mild, moderate + severe

Answer 4

• Mild / minimal: memory loss, can live independently, insidious onset (not always clear they have it)
• moderate: confusion, disorientation, poor judgement, personality changes, hallucinations, disrupted sleep
• severe: don’t recognise other, can’t communicate wandering

Question 5

Mini Mental state Exam (MMse)

Answer 5

• Folstein, McHugh-Quick clinical assessment
• Aspects of cog: orientation, attention, memory, language

Question 6

effects of AD on the brain-metabolism changes

Answer 6

• Early AD: reduced glucose +NT
• sig low metabolism in AD patients
• PET imaging uses radioactive glucose to measure brain metabolism

Question 7

Effects of AD on the brain: Beta Amyloid Plaques

Answer 7

• formed by short fragments of beta-amyloid protein released from neuron membranes
• Accumulate= toxic

Question 8

Effect of AD on the brain: neurofibrillary tangles

Answer 8

• Abnormal tau separate from microtubules=disintegrates
• Tau strands combine to form tangles disables neuron transport system + destroys cell
• Neurons disconnect=memory loss
• brain shrinks + Looses function

Question 9

Atrophy of AD

Answer 9

• Neurons die=brain shrinks
• suldi+ ventricles expand
• gaps between cortex get bigger
• gyri become smaller +gaps larger
• MRI scans show have more cerebral spinal fluid than healthy elderly

Question 10

origins of AD

Answer 10

• Auguste D-first symptoms: rapid memory loss, disorientation at home
  ~ later: completely disorientated, struggles to recognise people, auditory hallucinations

Question 11

senile VS pre -senile (AD) dementia

Answer 11

• senile=elderly
  ~ pre-senile=younger adults

Question 12

A D+ default Mode Network

Answer 12

• show abnormality in DMN (assoc with memory retrieval)
• Amyloid deposition explains severe early memory problems