Methods for pathological classification of Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

The hallmark protein aggregates required for a neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease are intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and neuropil threads consisting of hyperphosphorylated tau, extracellular parenchymal amyloid β plaques, and neuritic plaques. In this chapter, we describe the neuropathological criteria for the neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the fixation, processing, and histology protocols required for the assessment of post-mortem human brains.