Alzheimer's Disease - SNMMI

Tags

Top Highlights

• beta-amyloid plaques

• AD begins deep in the brain where healthy neurons begin to work less efficiently and eventually die.

• memory center—the hippocampu

• eurofibrillary tangles

• three distinct stages of the disease:

• mild-cognitive impairment

• brain atrophy (shrinkage).

• accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques

• decreased glucose metabolism

• beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles

• PET and MR imaging.

• PET scans are able to measure the brain’s rate of glucose metabolism using the tracer 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG).

• the temporal and parietal lobes– show decreased glucose metabolism.