Journal
DEMENTIA AND GERIATRIC COGNITIVE DISORDERS
Volume 25, Issue 4, Pages 301-308Publisher
KARGER
DOI: 10.1159/000119104
Keywords
Parkinson's disease; Alzheimer's disease; Lewy bodies; neuropathology
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Funding
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING [P50AG016570, P30AG010133] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NIA NIH HHS [P50 AG 16570, P30 AG10133] Funding Source: Medline
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Background/Aims: Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) is common, but its neuropathological basis has been controversial. The aim of this review was to survey the recent literature on the pathology of PDD and compare the pathology of PDD to that of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: A literature search was performed to identify relevant research published since 2001. Results: There is widespread Lewy body pathology in the neocortex and subcortical regions in PDD, and Lewy neurites in the CA2 region of the hippocampus that correlate with cognitive decline. Genetic forms of PD, which frequently lead to dementia, are associated with deposition of alpha-synuclein; PDD is not related to the apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 genotype. Compared with AD, central cholinergic deficits occur earlier, are greater and more widespread in PDD, but PDD can occur without the abundant senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles indicative of AD. Conclusion: Epidemiological investigations, neuroimaging, as well as genetic and neuropathological studies increasingly support PDD as distinct from AD. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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