ABSTRACT
Short-term memory impairment is indeed an early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. The medial temporal lobe includes the hippocampus and other limbic system areas, and degeneration of these areas contributes to the impairment of memory function. CT or MRI may show this. On microscopic pathological examination of the brain, both extracellular betaamyloid plaques and tau-protein-based neurofibrillary tangles are seen. Degeneration of the basal forebrain nuclei also occurs in Alzheimer’s disease, and cholinesterase inhibitors increase functional acetylcholine at synapses, thus temporarily improving memory dysfunction, especially in early disease. Cholinesterase inhibitors, however, do little to halt the progression of the underlying neuronal loss and thus progression of disease.
