The Dark Side of Alzheimer’s Disease: Neglected Physiological Biomarkers of Brain Hyperexcitability and Abnormal Consciousness Level
Claudio Babiloni
Abstract
The National Institute of Aging and Alzheimer's Association have recently proposed a framework for the neurobiological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) for research applications That framework states that the AD diagnosis can be based on biomarkers derived from in vivo measurement of amyloidosis ('A'), tauopathy ('T'), and neurodegeneration ('N') from the brain of patients with AD, regardless of the clinical manifestations of the disease in the continuum from subjective cognitive complaint, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild, moderate, or severe degree of dementia Specifically, the brain amyloidosis and tauopathy can be measured by biomarkers derived from a laboratory analysis of cerebrospinal fluid or positron emission tomography (PET) mapping, while neurodegeneration can be probed by biomarkers derived from structural magnetic resonance imaging or fluorodeoxyglucose PET