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A correction has been published 1

Review ArticleMechanisms of DiseaseFree Preview

Alzheimer's Disease

List of authors.
  • Henry W. Querfurth, M.D., Ph.D.,
  • and Frank M. LaFerla, Ph.D.

This review of Alzheimer's disease assembles a variety of findings relevant to the mechanism of the disease and ties them together using the current understanding of the basis of the loss of cognition: the accumulation of misfolded proteins, which cause oxidative and inflammatory damage to the brain and, ultimately, synaptic dysfunction.

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Funding and Disclosures

Dr. Querfurth reports receiving consulting and lecture fees from Novartis and Forest Pharmaceuticals and holding a provisional patent on a drug-screening assay for Alzheimer's disease; and Dr. LaFerla, receiving consulting fees from Sonexa Therapeutics, Forest Pharmaceuticals, and Abbott. Financial and other disclosures provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

This article (10.1056/NEJMra0909142) was updated on February 9, 2011, at NEJM.org.

We thank Donna-Marie Mironchuk and David Cheng for assistance in preparation of earlier drafts of the figures.

Author Affiliations

From the Department of Neurology, Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Brighton, MA (H.W.Q.); the Department of Neurology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston (H.W.Q.); the Department of Neurology, Rhode Island Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence (H.W.Q.); and the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine (F.M.L.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Querfurth at the Department of Neurology, Rhode Island Hospital, 563 Eddy St., Providence, RI 02903-4923, or at .

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