Neuron loss and shrinkage in the amygdala in Alzheimer's disease

Total neuron numbers in the amygdala and in eight of its subnuclei were determined in 9 cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in 6 age-matched controls (AMC). Total neuron numbers were obtained using the fractionator. A neuron loss of 56.3% for the left amygdala and 50.5% for the right amygdala in AD was found, being more severe than previously reported. The subdivisions showed a differential neuron loss ranging from 35.5% in nucleus lateralis of the right amygdala to 70.4% in the nucleus basalis accessorius of the right amygdala. Moreover, a shift in size distribution to smaller neurons could be demonstrated. No left-right hemispheric differences were detected in total neuron numbers in AD and AMC.

[1]  H. Gundersen,et al.  Notes on the estimation of the numerical density of arbitrary profiles: the edge effect , 1977 .

[2]  D. Sparks,et al.  Amygdala cell loss and atrophy in Alzheimer's disease , 1992, Annals of neurology.

[3]  J. D. McGaugh,et al.  Involvement of the amygdaloid complex in neuromodulatory influences on memory storage , 1990, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[4]  J. D. McGaugh,et al.  Involvement of the amygdala GABAergic system in the modulation of memory storage , 1989, Brain Research.

[5]  M. Sarter,et al.  The Amygdala's Role in Human Mnemonic Processing , 1985, Cortex.

[6]  H. Brashear,et al.  The distribution of neuritic plaques and acetylcholinesterase staining in the amygdala in Alzheimer's disease , 1988, Neurology.

[7]  R. Nieuwenhuys,et al.  Cell loss and shrinkage in the nucleus basalis Meynert complex in Alzheimer's disease , 1990, Neurobiology of Aging.

[8]  P. Glees.  Neuroglia : morphology and function , 1955 .

[9]  P. Davies,et al.  Alzheimer‐related neuronal protein A68: Specificity and distribution , 1987, Annals of neurology.

[10]  J. Cammermeyer,et al.  Artifactual displacement of neuronal nucleoli in paraffin sections. , 1967, Journal fur Hirnforschung.

[11]  R. Andersen.  Cognitive changes after amygdalotomy , 1978, Neuropsychologia.

[12]  D. Mann,et al.  The pattern of acquisition of plaques and tangles in the brains of patients under 50 years of age with Down's syndrome , 1989, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[13]  D L Rosene,et al.  Comparison of the efferents of the amygdala and the hippocampal formation in the rhesus monkey: II. Reciprocal and non‐reciprocal connections , 1988, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[14]  R. E. Passingham,et al.  Cortical and subcortical afferents to the amygdala of the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) , 1980, Brain Research.

[15]  P. Yates,et al.  THE TOPOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF SENILE PLAQUES AND NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES IN THE BRAINS OF NON‐DEMENTED PERSONS OF DIFFERENT AGES , 1987, Neuropathology and applied neurobiology.

[16]  H. Gundersen,et al.  Unbiased stereological estimation of the total number of neurons in the subdivisions of the rat hippocampus using the optical fractionator , 1991, The Anatomical record.

[17]  D. Amaral,et al.  The afferent input to the magnocellular division of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus in the monkey, Macaca fascicularis , 1987, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[18]  K. Kosaka,et al.  Neuropathological study of the amygdala in presenile Alzheimer's disease , 1990, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[19]  J. Anderson,et al.  AGE‐RELATED VARIATIONS IN THE NEURON CONTENT OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX IN SENILE DEMENTIA OF ALZHEIMER TYPE , 1985, Neuropathology and applied neurobiology.

[20]  D. Amaral,et al.  An autoradiographic study of the projections of the central nucleus of the monkey amygdala , 1981, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[21]  H J Gundersen,et al.  The efficiency of systematic sampling in stereology and its prediction * , 1987, Journal of microscopy.

[22]  D. Dickson,et al.  A neuronal antigen in the brains of Alzheimer patients. , 1986, Science.

[23]  Z. Khachaturian.  Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. , 1985, Archives of neurology.

[24]  D. Amaral.  Amygdalohippocampal and amygdalocortical projections in the primate brain. , 1986, Advances in experimental medicine and biology.

[25]  H. J. G. Gundersen,et al.  The impact of recent stereological advances on quantitative studies of the nervous system , 1986, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[26]  H. Haug,et al.  Are Neurons of the Human Cerebral Cortex Really Lost During Aging? A Morphometric Examination , 1985 .

[27]  L. Brothers,et al.  Response of neurons in the macaque amygdala to complex social stimuli , 1990, Behavioural Brain Research.

[28]  G. V. Hoesen,et al.  Temporal neocortical afferent connections to the amygdala in the rhesus monkey , 1976, Brain Research.

[29]  P. Yates,et al.  ALZHEIMER'S PRESENILE DEMENTIA, SENILE DEMENTIA OF ALZHEIMER TYPE AND DOWN'S SYNDROME IN MIDDLE AGE FORM AN AGE RELATED CONTINUUM OF PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES , 1984, Neuropathology and applied neurobiology.

[30]  T. Mayhew.  An efficient sampling scheme for estimating fibre number from nerve cross sections: the fractionator. , 1988, Journal of anatomy.

[31]  D. Mann,et al.  A morphological analysis of senile plaques in the brains of nondemented persons of different ages using silver, immunocytochemical and lectin histochemical staining techniques , 1990, Neuropathology and applied neurobiology.

[32]  David M. A. Mann,et al.  The pathological association between down syndrome and Alzheimer disease , 1988, Mechanisms of Ageing and Development.

[33]  H. J. Donkelaar,et al.  Cell loss in the nucleus raphes dorsalis in alzheimer's disease , 1992, Neurobiology of Aging.

[34]  Luis M. Cruz-Orive,et al.  On the empirical variance of a fractionator estimate , 1990 .

[35]  G. V. Van Hoesen,et al.  Alzheimer's disease: cell-specific pathology isolates the hippocampal formation. , 1984, Science.

[36]  R. W. Hamill,et al.  The amygdala in Alzheimer's disease: Neuropathology and Alz 50 Immunoreactivity , 1991, Neurobiology of Aging.

[37]  H. Uylings,et al.  Comments on review by coleman and flood ‘neuron numbers and dendritic extent in normal aging and alzheimer's disease.’ density measures: Parameters to avoid , 1987, Neurobiology of Aging.

[38]  H. Gundersen,et al.  Unbiased stereological estimation of the number of neurons in the human hippocampus , 1990, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[39]  D. German,et al.  Axonal and transneuronal transport in the transmission of neurological disease: Potential role in system degenerations, including alzheimer's disease , 1987, Neuroscience.

[40]  M. Herkenham,et al.  Thalamoamygdaloid projections in the rat: A test of the amygdala's role in sensory processing , 1991, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[41]  J. Ulrich,et al.  Alzheimer changes in nondemented patients younger than sixty‐five: Possible early stages of Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia of Alzheimer type , 1985, Annals of neurology.

[42]  T. Di Paolo,et al.  Participation of the central amygdaloid nucleus in the response of adrenocorticotropin secretion to immobilization stress: opposing roles of the noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems. , 1987, Neuroendocrinology.

[43]  J. Unger,et al.  Neuropeptides and neuropathology in the amygdala in Alzheimer's disease: relationship between somatostatin, neuropeptide Y and subregional distribution of neuritic plaques , 1988, Brain Research.

[44]  D L Rosene,et al.  A comparison of the efferents of the amygdala and the hippocampal formation in the rhesus monkey: I. Convergence in the entorhinal, prorhinal, and perirhinal cortices , 1988, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[45]  G. V. Van Hoesen,et al.  Hippocampal formation: anatomy and the patterns of pathology in Alzheimer's disease. , 1990, Progress in brain research.

[46]  W. Ellis,et al.  The amygdala in down's syndrome and familial Alzheimer's disease: Four clinicopathological case report , 1991, Biological Psychiatry.

[47]  E. Crosby,et al.  Studies of the vertebrate telencephalon. II. The nuclear pattern of the anterior olfactory nucleus, tuberculum olfactorium and the amygdaloid complex in adult man , 1941 .

[48]  B. Kaada.  Stimulation and Regional Ablation of the Amygdaloid Complex with Reference to Functional Representations , 1972 .

[49]  F. Vogel,et al.  The limbic system in Alzheimer's disease. A neuropathologic investigation. , 1976, The American journal of pathology.

[50]  E. Mufson,et al.  Amygdaloid Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis , 1990 .

[51]  T. Kemper,et al.  Amygdaloid changes in aging and dementia. , 1980, Archives of neurology.

[52]  G. V. Van Hoesen,et al.  Perforant pathway changes and the memory impairment of Alzheimer's disease , 1986, Annals of neurology.

[53]  B T Hyman,et al.  Neuropsychological correlates of bilateral amygdala damage. , 1990, Archives of neurology.

[54]  P. Henke.  Hippocampal pathway to the amygdala and stress ulcer development , 1990, Brain Research Bulletin.

[55]  David M. A. Mann,et al.  The neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease: A review with pathogenetic, aetiological and therapeutic considerations , 1985, Mechanisms of Ageing and Development.

[56]  H. Barbas.  Anatomic organization of basoventral and mediodorsal visual recipient prefrontal regions in the rhesus monkey , 1988, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[57]  D. Gaffan,et al.  Visual-visual associative learning and reward-association learning in monkeys: the role of the amygdala , 1989, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[58]  A. R. Damasio,et al.  Pathological alterations in the amygdala in Alzheimer's disease , 1990, Neuroscience.

[59]  D. C. Sterio.  The unbiased estimation of number and sizes of arbitrary particles using the disector , 1984, Journal of microscopy.

[60]  K. Helander,et al.  Thickness variations within individual paraffin and glycol methacrylate sections , 1983, Journal of microscopy.

[61]  Stephen W. Scheff,et al.  Volumetric atrophy of the amygdala in Alzheimer's disease , 1991, Neurology.