Almost four decades of innovative and intensive research on Alzheimer's disease (AD) have brought major advances in our understanding of its pathogenesis, improved tools for diagnosis, and strategies for its treatment. This research has helped build a solid foundation of knowledge in the neurosciences and biological basis of AD and AD-related neurological disorders. Scientific background and insightful hypotheses are of major relevance in order to approach to an effective therapy for this devastating disease.

Current Hypotheses and Research Milestones in...

The neuronal cytoskeleton is a complex structure responsive to both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Defined populations of neurons in the brains of patients with Alzheimer and several other neurodegenerative diseases contain abnormal filamentous accumulations which share elements with the cytoskeleton. Although there is a general consensus that these abnormal filaments do contain cytoskeletal elements, much debate remains regarding which cytoskeletal elements are incorporated and whether the cytoskeletal rearrangement is primary or secondary to other cellular changes. In this book these...

Alzheimer's Disease is characterized pathologically by two principal hallmark lesions: the senile plaque and the neurofibrillary tangle. Since the identification of each over 100 years ago, the major protein components have been elucidated. This has led in turn to the elaboration of metabolic cascades involving amyloid-β production in the case of the senile plaque, and phosphorylated-tau protein in the case of the neurofibrillary tangle. The pathogenesis and histogenesis of each have been the source of extensive investigation and some controversy in recent years, as both cascades have...