Brain is a three-pound organ which controls all functions of the body. The surface of the cerebrum is called the cortex. It has a folded appearance with hills and valleys. The long-term memory is processed in the hippocampus region of the temporal lobe. Alzheimer's involves a major damage to the cerebral cortex and hippocampus region.

The inforgraphic shows basic details about alzheimer's disease such as Alzheimer's Disease and dementia symptoms and treatment.

This is a cross-sectional view of a brain. The image shows various regions of the brain, such as basal ganglia, hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus.

Initially, the hippocampus begins to damage. As the neurons die, additional parts of the brain get affected, and they begin to shrink. By the final stage of Alzheimer’s, damage becomes widespread, and brain tissue has shrunk significantly.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a type of brain scan, is an important part of the standard evaluation for Alzheimer's disease and for other forms of dementia. A radiologist compares the size and distributions of the bright and dark areas to determine whether a tissue is healthy or not.

Alzheimer's disease involves a change in tau protein structure that results in breakdown of microtubules in the brain cells. This damage slowly leads to degradation of brain tissue, thereby affecting several brain functions.

The neurounal cell membrane contains amyloid precursor proteins (APP) and beta amyloid. APP is digested by several enzymes and gets accumulated in the extracellular space of the brain. This proteins gets aggreagated to form amyloid plaques which effects the neuronal and synaptic function, ultimately leading to neuronal death.

There are approximately 44 million people worldwide living with Alzheimer’s disease. In the U.S., an estimated 5.5 million people of all age groups suffer from Alzheimer. Around 5.3 million are 65 years old and 200,000 are younger.

Scientists have identified various factors which increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. These include age, family history, heredity changes and other risk factors.

The main processes where degradation of the brain occurs include neurons and neuropil. In neurons, the level of expression of many genes involved in communication changes. In neuropil, reduction in the number of synapses and the strength of synaptic connections occurs.