Summary
In a man of 47 with a 2-month history of Creutzfeldt-Jakob-disease verified neuropathologically a morphometric study of the nucleus basalis of Meynert, the major source of cholinergic innervation of the cortex, revealed a neuronal loss of 45%. The degeneration of these neurones may provide the morphological substrate of the cortical cholinergic deficiency which has been reported in this condition. The six subpopulations of the nucleus basalis were affected in different degrees. Neuronal loss was most pronounced in those subpopulations which project to cortical areas most affected by spongiosis and neuronal loss. It is suggested that maintenance of the nucleus basalis complex is a necessary condition for higher cortical function.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Amaducci L, Bracco L, Sorbi S (1982) Dementia as a primarily subcortical disease. In: Terry RD, Bolis CL, Tofano G (eds) Neural aging and its implications in human neurological pathology. Raven Press, New York, pp 143–149
Arendt T, Bigl V, Arendt A, Tennstedt A (1983) Loss of neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert in Alzheimer's disease, paralysis agitans and Korsakoff's disease. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 61:101–108
Arendt T, Bigl V, Tennstedt A, Arendt A (1984) Neuronal loss in different parts of the nucleus basalis is related to neuritic plaque formation in cortical target areas in Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscience (in press)
Bowen DM, Benton JS, Spillane JA, Smith CCT, Allen SJ (1982) Choline acetyltransferase activity and histopathology of frontal neocortex from biopsies of demented patients. J Neurol Sci 57:191–202
Brown P, Salazar AM, Gibbs CJ Jr, Gajdusek DC (1982) Alzheimer's disease and transmissible virus dementia (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). In: Sinex FM, Merril CR (eds) Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome, and aging. Ann NY Acad Sci 396:131–143
Candy JM, Perry RH, Perry EK, Irving D, Blessed G, Fairbairn AF, Tomlinson BE (1983) Pathological changes in the nucleus of Meynert in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. J Neurol Sci 59:277–289
Das GD (1971) Projections of the interstitial nerve cells surrounding the globus pallidus: A study of retrograde changes following cortical ablations in rabbits. Z Anat Entwickl-Gesch 133:135–160
Divac J (1975) Magnocellular nuclei of the basal forebrain project to neocortex, brain stem and olfactory bulb. Review of some functional correlates. Brain Res 93:385–398
Gibbs CJ Jr, Gajdusek DC, Asher DM, Alpers MP, Beck E, Daniel PM, Matthews WB (1968) Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (subacute spongiform encephalopathy): Transmission to the chimpanzee. Science 161:388–389
Gibbs CJ Jr, Gajdusek DC (1978) Subacute spongiform virus encephalopathies: The transmissible virus dementias. In: Katzman R, Terry RD, Bick KL (eds) Alzheimer's disease: Senile dementia and related disorders. Vol 7: Aging. Raven Press, New York, pp 559–575
Karezmar AG, Dun NJ (1978) Cholinergic synapses: physiological, pharmacological and behavioral considerations. In: Lipton MA, DiMascio A, Kiliam KF (eds) Psychopharmacology: A generation of progress. Raven Press, New York, pp 293–305
McDermott FR, Fraser H, Dickinson AG (1978) Reduced choline acetyltransferase activity in scrapie mouse brain. Lancet II:318–319
Mesulam M, van Hoesen GW (1976) Acetylcholinesterase-rich projections from the basal forebrain of the rhesus monkey to neocortex. Brain Res 109:152–157
Mesulam M, Mufson EJ, Levey AI, Wainer BH (1983) Cholinergic innervation of cortex by the basal forebrain: Cytochemistry and cortical connections of the septal area, diagonal band nuclei, nucleus basalis (substantia innominata), and hypothalamus in rhesus monkey. J Comp Neurol 214:170–197
Nagai T, McGeer PL, Peng JH, McGeer EG, Dolman CE (1983) Choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry in brains of Alzheimer's disease patients and controls. Neurosci Lett 36:195–199
Nakano I, Hirano A (1982) Neuron loss in the nucleus basalis of Meynert in paralysis agitans and parkinsonism-dementia complex of Guam. Ann Neurol 12:96
Pearson RCA, Gatter KC, Powell TPS (1983a) Retrograde cell degeneration in the basal nucleus in monkey and man. Brain Res 261:321–326
Pearson RCA, Sofroniew MV, Cuello AC, Powell TPS, Eckenstein F, Esiri MM, Wilcock GK (1983b) Persistence of cholinergic neurons in the basal nucleus in a brain with senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type demonstrated by immunohistochemical staining for choline acetyltransferase. Brain Res 289:375–379
Robitaille Y, Wood PL, Etienne P, Lal S, Finlayson MH, Gauthier S, Nair NPV (1982) Reduced cortical choline acetyltransferase activity in Gerstmann-Sträussler syndrome. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol 6:529–531
Sorbi S, Antuono P, Amaducci L (1980) Choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase abnormalities in senile dementia: Importance of biochemical measurements in human post-mortem brain specimens. Ital J Neurol 2:75–83
Tagliavini F, Pilleri G (1983) Neuronal counts in basal nucleus of Meynert in Alzheimer disease and in simple senile dementia. Lancet I:469–470
Tagliavini F, Pilleri G, Gemignani F, Lechi A (1983) Neuronal loss in the basal nucleus of Meynert in progressive supranuclear palsy. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 61:157–160
Uhl GR, McKinney M, Hedreen JC, White III CL, Coyle JT, Whitehouse PJ, Price DL (1982) Dementia pugilistica: loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons and cortical cholinergic markers. Ann Neurol 12:99
Wenk H, Bigl V, Meyer U (1980) Cholinergic projections from magnocellular nuclei of the basal forebrain to cortical areas in rats. Brain Res Rev 2:295–316
Whitehouse PJ, Price DL, Struble RG, Clark AW, Coyle JT, DeLong MR (1982) Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia: loss of neurons in the basal forebrain. Science 215:1237–1239
Whitehouse PJ, Hedreen JC, White III CL, Price DL (1983) Basal forebrain neurons in the dementia of Parkinson disease. Ann neurol 13:243–248
Wilcock GK, Esiri MM, Bowen DM, Smith CCT (1983) The nucleus basalis in Alzheimer's disease: Cell counts and cortical biochemistry. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 9:175–179
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arendt, T., Bigl, V. & Arendt, A. Neurone loss in the nucleus basalis of meynert in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Acta Neuropathol 65, 85–88 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00689832
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00689832