Molecular Underpinnings of Clinical and Neuropathologic Heterogeneity in AD

Although Alzheimer's disease is commonly thought to be a single disease, there is extensive and growing evidence that that are several different forms of the disease. For example, a brain region known as the hippocampus has long been known to be severely affected in many people with Alzheimer's disease. However, autopsy studies of brain tissue from people affected by the disease have shown that the hippocampus is only mildly affected in some people. Similar results have been found in other brain regions, whereby certain regions are more strongly affected in some people than others.