NEUROPATHOLOGY OF AGING

The brain undergoes many gross and histopathologic changes with advanc ing age. Some of the changes seen with aging are also found in demente d individuals, especially patients with Alzheimer's disease. The exten t to which Alzheimer's disease and aging are truly different processes remains to be determined. The morphologic features that seem most cle arly to distinguish between aging and Alzheimer's disease are the neur ofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. The distinction can be further refined by determining the immunocytochemical and ultrastructural com position of the degenerating nerve processes in the neuritic plaques.