Which neuropathologic changes correlate best with the severity of dementia due to Alzheimers Disease?
Both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles correlate with the overall severity of dementia, but specific cognitive deficits correlate best with neurofibrillary tangles in the expected brain regions that underlie those cognitive functions.
Synaptic density has been shown to have an inverse correlation with severity of dementia, at least in some brain regions.
Because education seems to increase synaptic density, some have suggested that education may have a protective effect against the manifestation of Alzheimers Disease cognitive changes.
