Overview of the Brain with Alzheimer's Disease

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Jun 6, 2023 | Dr. Melanie Chandler, HABIT FL Director | @drmelaniechandler | Comments (1)

Towards the beginning of a HABIT session, I lead a discussion about the brain.  I give an overview of how the brain works, and we talk about how to understand what is happening in the brain in MCI and common causes of neurodegeneration.  There is one slide in particular where I take a "deep dive", as if looking in a microscope, to talk about what commonly is happening at a cellular level in Alzheimer's disease, Lewy Body Disease, Vascular Cognitive Impairment, and others.  It usually generates a lot of questions and great discussion.  It helps folks get a general idea of why they may be seeing the symptoms they are seeing and what the medications out there are for.

I recently was on the Alzheimer's Association's web-site looking at their stance on the newest amyloid treatment (see Dr. Locke's recent post on donanemab), when I came across a detailed explanation of the brain and brain changes in Alzheimer's disease.  It reminded me of this discussion we have in session, but they had way cooler graphics.  Check it out below:

https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers/brain_tour

While it really doesn't go into the explanations about brain-behavior relationships we talk about in HABIT, it is an easy to read, plain-language explanation of how the disease itself works in the brain.

Hope you find it educational!