Walsh & Hoyt: Wilson's Disease

Primary neuropathologic features of AD include neurofibrillary tangles, neuritic plaques, loss of neurons, and granulovacuolar degeneration. These changes are found in the neocortical association areas, the hippocampus, and other limbic areas. They are also present in certain subcortical nuclei that have diffuse projections to the cerebral cortex, such as the nucleus basalis of Meynert-the origin of the cholinergic projection to the cerebral cortex (9), the locus ceruleus, and the nucleus raphe. The neurofibrillary tangles are found in degenerating cells, and consist of paired helical filaments that are derived from the microtubule protein, tau, which is abnormally phosphorylated (10).