image: Four self portraits by the artist William Utermohlen, an American who lived in London, chronicle his experience with Alzheimer disease. view more
Credit: ©2012 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Alzheimer disease causes the gradual deterioration of cognitive function, including severe memory loss and impairments in abstraction and reasoning. Understanding the complex changes that occur in the brain as the disease progresses - including the accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles - is critical for the development of successful therapeutic appraoches.
Written and edited by experts in the field, "The Biology of Alzheimer Disease" includes contributions covering all aspects of Alzheimer disease, from our current molecular understanding to therapeutic agents that could be used to treat and, ultimately, prevent it. Contributors discuss the biochemistry and cell biology of amyloid ß-protein precursor (APP), tau, presenilin, ß-secretase, and apolipoprotein E and their involvement in Alzheimer disease. They also review the clinical, neuropathological, imaging, and biomarker phenotypes of the disease; genetic alterations associated with the disorder; and epidemiological insights into its causation and pathogenesis.
This comprehensive volume, which includes discussions of therapeutic strategies that are currently used or under development, is a vital reference for neurobiologists, cell biologists, pathologists, and other scientists pursuing the biological basis of Alzheimer disease, as well as investigators, clinicians, and students interested in its pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention.