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Neuroanatomical and neurochemical specificity of pathological changes in the posterior inferior temporal cortex in AD
Author(s) -
Thangavel Ramasamy,
Van Hoesen Gary W.,
Zaheer Asgar
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.655.1
Subject(s) - neurochemical , cytoarchitecture , cortex (anatomy) , neuroscience , temporal cortex , laminar organization , efferent , nissl body , cerebral cortex , anatomy , pathology , thalamus , biology , staining , afferent , medicine
The posterior inferior temporal cortex or Brodmann's area 37 (BA37) has been investigated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous studies suggested a relationship between severity of AD and the degree of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) clustering pattern in different areas of the cortex in brains. The cellular architecture and connectivity of BA37 is unclear. We studied the laminar changes in the distribution and topography of NFT pathology of BA37 in AD subjects using thionin staining for Nissl substance and thioflavin‐S staining for NFTs. We used immunohistochemical methods to reveal the neurochemical alterations of BA37 in AD. Neurons with neurofibrillary processes and degeneration were detected in layers II–VI of this cortex. NFTs were predominantly expressed in bilaminar pattern in entire regions of BA37. To compare the corresponding cortical region in the monkey brain, we studied the modular and columnar organizations of inferior temporal cortex by using the retrograde tracer fast blue (FB). Clustering of FB labeled neurons was densely distributed in layers III, V and VI. We also observed the vertical columnar cluster pattern through layers II–VI. Based on clinical history, neuroanatomical, neurochemical and neuropathological features in the BA37, we hypothesize that the disruption of feed forward, feedback and efferent cortical projections is responsible for the development of NFT formation in AD.