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Common factors among Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy: Possible role of the noradrenergic nervous system
Author(s) -
Szot Patricia
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
epilepsia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.687
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1528-1167
pISSN - 0013-9580
DOI - 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2012.03476.x
Subject(s) - locus coeruleus , epilepsy , neuroscience , hippocampus , temporal lobe , psychology , disease , depression (economics) , parkinson's disease , medicine , central nervous system , economics , macroeconomics
Summary The neurodegenerative disorders Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) share in common the neuropathologic loss of locus coeruleus (LC) noradrenergic neurons. In addition, these two neurodegenerative disorders share two symptoms that define these disorders: cognitive impairment and depression. The hippocampus is a region that is known to play a role in cognition and depression, and the hippocampus receives sole noradrenergic innervation from LC neurons. However, it is unclear how the loss of LC noradrenergic neurons contributes to these common symptoms in these two disorders. Epilepsy is not considered a neurodegenerative disorder, but the hippocampus is severely affected in temporal lobe epilepsy. Of interest, cognitive impairment and depression are also common comorbid disorders in temporal lobe epilepsy. This article describes common symptoms among these three neurologic disorders and a possible role of the noradrenergic nervous system.