Human Brain Mapping - Neurodegeneration and Dementia

Neurodegeneration and Dementia

• Neurodegeneration - an umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons.
• Multiple sclerosis - an inflammatory disease in which the myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged.
• Parkinson's disease - Early symptoms include shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait. Later symptoms include cognitive and behavioral problems, with dementia commonly occurring in the advanced stages. The motor symptoms result from the death of dopamine-generating cells in a region of the mid-brain.
• Alzheimer's disease - The most common form of dementia. Beginning with an array of symptoms including memory loss, as the disease progresses the individual often withdraws from family and society and requires 24/7 supervision. It's predicted to affect 1 in 85 people globally by 2050.
• Huntington's disease - caused by a mutation in the huntingtin gene (HTT) causing and array of symptoms including abnormal involuntary writhing movements, cognitive decline and psychiatric problems.
• Dementia - a serious loss of global cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal. Neurodegeneration frequently results in dementia. Dementia can also arise from other causes. See: Multi-infarct dementia, frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.