THE CEREBELLUM IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

The cerebellum is a relatively neglected area of the Alzheimer's disea se (AD) brain, probably because it was formerly thought to be spared b y the disease. However, a number of pathological changes have now been revealed in the AD cerebellum, principally by immunocytochemical stud ies, including widespread deposits of diffuse amyloid, ubiquitin-immun oreactive dystrophic neurites, and increased microglia, but tau-immuno reactive neurofibrillary tangles have not been seen. Although the obse rved changes may be merely epiphenomenal to the pathological processes occurring in the AD neocortex and hippocampus, the morphological and immunocytochemical differences between AD cerebral cortex and cerebell ar cortex may nonetheless give insights into the molecular factors inv olved in the development of the neuropathological lesions of AD brain.