Detection of Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a chronic disorder with a gradual onset and slowly progressive course that is characterized by an inevitable deterioration in cognitive function. To develop new methods to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease, we must be able to diagnose the preclinical stage of the disease, before the brain damage becomes irreversible. The presymptomatic phase of Alzheimer's disease has therefore been the focus of intense research.The brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease show extensive neuronal loss, the accumulation of β-amyloid, and extracellular senile plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles in the hippocampus and frontal and temporal cortexes. Minor pathological changes . . .