Neuropathological changes of the nucleus accumbens in Huntington's chorea

SummaryUltrastructural analysis of the ncl. accumbens, frontal cortex, and caudate nucleus of ten patients with Huntington's chorea revealed nuclear membrane indentation of remaining neuronal elements in >25%, <5%, and <2%, respectively. This phenomenon was not observed in ten non-choreic control brains obtained from patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and non-demented elderly people. The pathogenetic mechanisms leading to this phenomenon are discussed.