Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Laminar degeneration of frontal and temporal cortex in Parkinson disease dementia

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Neurological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To investigate cortical laminar degeneration in Parkinson’s disease (PD) with dementia (PDD). Changes in density of α-synuclein-immunoreactive Lewy bodies (LB), Lewy neurites (LN), and Lewy grains (LG) together with surviving neurons, abnormally enlarged neurons (EN), vacuoles, and glial cell nuclei were measured across cortical laminae of frontal and temporal cortex in fifteen cases of PDD using quantitative methods and polynomial curve-fitting. Most frequently, LB and LN were distributed across all laminae, while LG were distributed in upper cortical laminae. Low densities of EN were present in most cases distributed across all cortical laminae. Densities of vacuoles and glia were greatest in upper and lower cortical laminae, respectively. In most gyri, there were no spatial correlations between the densities of LB, LN, and LG. Cortical degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes in PDD affects all cortical laminae. Laminar distributions may result from the spread of α-synuclein pathology from subcortical regions and subsequent spread via the cortico-cortical pathways. This spread may be a major factor in the development of dementia in PD.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Melzer TR, Watts R, MacAskill MR et al (2012) Grey matter atrophy in cognitively impaired Parkinson disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatr 83:188–194

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Saito Y, Kawashima A, Ruberu NN et al (2003) Accumulation of phosphorylated α-synuclein in aging human brain. J Neuropath Exp Neurol 62:644–654

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Armstrong RA, Kotzbauer PT, Perlmutter JS, Campbell MC, Hurth KM, Schmidt RE, Cairns NJ (2014) A quantitative study of α-synuclein pathology in fifteen cases of dementia associated with Parkinson disease. J Neural Transm 121:171–181

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Armstrong RA, Cairns NJ, Lantos PL (1997) Laminar distribution of cortical Lewy bodies and neurofibrillary tangles in dementia with Lewy bodies. Neurosci Res Commun 21:145–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kotzbauer PT, Cairns NJ, Campbell MC, Racette BA, Tabbal SD, Perlmutter JS (2012) Pathological accumulation of α-synuclein and Aβ in Parkinson disease patients with dementia. Arch Neurol 23:1–6

    Google Scholar 

  6. Braak H, Ghebremedhin E, Rub U, Bratzke H, Del Tredici K (2004) Stages in the development of Parkinson disease-related pathology. Cell Tissue Res 318:121–134

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. McKeith IG, Galasko D, Kosaka K et al (1996) Consensus guidelines for the clinical and pathologic diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB): report of the consortium on DLB international workshop. Neurology 47:1113–1124

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. McKeith IG, Dickson DW, Lowe J et al (2005) Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: third report of the DLB Consortium. Neurology 65:1863–1872

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hyman BT, Phelps CH, Beach TG et al (2012) National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer’s Association guidelines for the neuropathologic assessment of Alzheimer’s disease. Alz Dement 8:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Duyckaerts C, Hauw JJ, Bastenaire F, Piette F, Poulain C, Rainsard V, Javoy-Agid F, Berthaux P (1986) Laminar distribution of neocortical senile plaques in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Acta Neuropathol 70:249–256

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Armstrong RA, Hilton AC (2011) Statistical analysis in microbiology: statnotes. Wiley Blackwell, Hoboken

    Google Scholar 

  12. Armstrong RA, Slaven A (1994) Does the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer’s disease spread between visual cortical regions B17 and B18 via the feedforward or feedback short cortico-cortical projections? Neurodegeneration 3:191–196

    Google Scholar 

  13. De Lacoste M, White CL (1993) The role of cortical connectivity in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis: a review and model system. Neurobiol Aging 14:1–16

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Armstrong RA, Ellis W, Hamilton RL et al (2010) Neuropathological heterogeneity in frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 proteinopathy: a quantitative study of 94 cases using principal components analysis. J Neural Transm. 117:227–239

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Armstrong RA, Lantos PL, Cairns NJ (2001) Spatial correlations between the vacuolation, prion protein deposits, and surviving neurons in the cerebral cortex in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Neuropathology 21:266–271

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Armstrong RA, Ironside J, Lantos PL, Cairns NJ (2009) A quantitative study of the pathological changes in the cerebellum of 15 cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 35:36–45

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Steiner JA, Angot E, Brunden P (2011) A deadly spread: cellular mechanisms of α-synuclein transfer. Cell Death Differ 18:1425–1433

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The ‘Movement Disorders Center’ at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is gratefully thanked for providing the PDD cases for this study. In addition, Deborah Carter and Benjamin Vincent of the Betty Martz Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Research are thanked for their expert assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard A. Armstrong.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Armstrong, R.A. Laminar degeneration of frontal and temporal cortex in Parkinson disease dementia. Neurol Sci 38, 667–671 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-017-2828-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-017-2828-6

Keywords

Navigation