Selective dendritic degeneration of medium spiny neurons in dementia with Lewy bodies.
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common form of dementia and shows more severely impaired performance on tests of executive functions compared to Alzheimer disease. Here the authors demonstrate selective spinodendritic degeneration of medium spiny neurons in regions of the caudate nucleus that subserve executive functions and propose that this may underlie, at least in part, the heightened executive dysfunction observed in patients with DLB.
Zaja-Milatovic
S
S
University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.
Keene
C D
CD
Montine
K S
KS
Leverenz
J B
JB
Tsuang
D
D
Montine
T J
TJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020961:Lewy Body Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification / Q000648:ultrastructure*