ABSTRACT
Few experiences in the work of a neurological diagnostician are more dispiriting than informing
both patient and family that the diagnosis is Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Yet, with the remarkable
rise in life expectancy and the gradual decline in competing causes of late-life brain failure, this is a
diagnosis that clinicians are reaching with ever-increasing frequency. To change this scenario, we
must thoroughly understand the molecular underpinnings of this complex syndrome and devise
rational, mechanism-based agents for preventing it.
