Initially, it was thought that A beta fibrils, which make up SP, were the root cause of the massive neurodegeneration usual found in AD brains. Over time, the longstanding emphasis on fibrillar A beta deposits and neuronal death slowly gave way to a new paradigm involving soluble oligomeric forms of A beta,

which play a prominent role in triggering the cognitive deficits by specifically targeting synapses and disrupting synaptic signaling pathways. While this paradigm is widely accepted today in the AD field, the molecular details have not been fully elucidated. In this review, we address some of the important evidence, which has led to the A beta oligomer-centric hypothesis as well as some of buy AZD7762 Rigosertib datasheet the key findings concerning the effects of A beta oligomers on synapses at a morphological and functional level. Understanding how A beta oligomers target synapses provides an important framework for ongoing AD research, which can lead to the development of successful therapeutic strategies designed to alter or perhaps reverse the course of the disease.

This article is part

of a Special Issue entitled: Dendritic Spine Plasticity in Brain Disorders. (c) 2012 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The metabolic profiles of Chinese patients either treated with second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) medication and first-generation antipsychotic (FGA) medication were compared. The sample comprised 99 patients treated with SGA (risperidone, olanzapine and ziprasidone) and 99 with FGA (chlorpromazine, haloperidol and trifluoperazine) from the outpatient clinic of a teaching hospital in Hong Kong. The most frequent psychiatric diagnosis was schizophrenia,

followed by affective disorder and other psychiatric diagnoses. Subjects were measured for body weight, body height, fasting lipid and glucose levels. SGA was associated with higher LDL-cholesterol level than FGA. Individual comparison of different antipsychotics showed that patients on olanzapine had the greatest increases in cholesterol and triglycerides among all antipsychotics. The finding suggested SGA, particularly olanzapine, were associated with more metabolic risk factors than first-generation antipsychotics. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Tissue elasticity can be detected using a scanning acoustic microscope (SAM), whereby acoustic images are created from the speed of sound through tissues.