title: Divergent cognitive status with the same Braak stage of neurofibrillary pathology: does the pattern of amyloid-β deposits make the difference?
abstract: The neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the co-occurrence of extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition and intraneuronal neurofibrillary changes composed of abnormal tau. Over the last decades, the concept emerged that neurofibrillary changes progress in a hierarchical manner from mesial temporal structures through the associative neocortex to primary sensory and motor fields, paralleling cognitive deterioration closer than Aβ. The observation that two patients (one cognitively normal, one with dementia) exhibited neurofibrillary changes closely overlapping as regards their entity and topographic distribution but differed for characteristics of Aβ deposition suggests that the latter may directly contribute in determining cognitive impairment in AD.
authors.affiliation: Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maderna
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, University of Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cattaneo
authors.affiliation: Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cacciatore
authors.affiliation: Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Catania
authors.affiliation: Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Fede
authors.affiliation: Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tagliavini
authors.affiliation: Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giaccone
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D001344:Autopsy; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000473:pathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; amyloid-β; dispersion index; immunohistochemistry; neurofibrillary pathology