Inside the Brain: Unraveling the Mystery of Alzheimer's Disease [HQ]

This 4-minute captioned video shows the intricate mechanisms involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease in the brain.

http://www.nia.nih.gov

Permission to use ADEAR materials is not required. When you use our materials in print, on the Web, or in a video or audio format, we simply request that you credit the "Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center, a service of the National Institute on Aging."

The human brain is a remarkable organ. Complex chemical and electrical processes take place within our brains that let us speak, move, see, remember, feel emotions and make decisions. Inside a normal healthy brain, billions of cells called neurons constantly communicate with one another.They receive messages from each other as electrical charges travel down the axon to the end of the neuron. The electrical charges release chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The transmitters move across microscopic gaps, or synapses, between neurons. They bind to receptor sites on the dendrites of the next neuron.This cellular circuitry enables communication within the brain. Healthy neurotransmission is important for the brain to function well. Alzheimer's disease disrupts this intricate interplay. By compromising the ability of neurons to communicate with one another, the disease over time destroys memory and thinking skills. Scientific research has revealed some of the brain changes that take place in Alzheimer's disease. Abnormal structures called beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are classic biological hallmarks of the disease. Plaques form when specific proteins in the neuron's cell membrane are processed differently. Normally, an enzyme called Alpha-secretase snips amyloid precursor protein, or APP, releasing a fragment. A second enzyme, Gamma-secretase, also snips APP in another place. These released fragments are thought to benefit neurons. In Alzheimer's disease, the first cut is made most often by another enzyme, Beta-secretase. That, combined with the cut made by Gamma-secretase, results in the release of short fragments of APP called Beta-Amyloid. When these fragments clump together, they become toxic and interfere with the function of neurons. As more fragments are added, these oligomers increase in size and become insoluable, eventually forming Beta-Amyloid plaques. Neurofibrillary tangles are made when a protein called tau is modified. In normal brain cells, tau stabilizes structures critical to the cell's internal transport system. Nutrients and other cellular cargo are carried up and down the structures called microtubules to all parts of the neuron. In Alzheimer's disease, abnormal tau separates from the microtubules, causing them to fall apart. Strands of this tau combine to form tangles inside the neuron, disabling the transport system and destroying the cell. Neurons in certain brain regions disconnect from each other and eventually die, causing memory loss. As these processes continue, the brain shrinks and loses function. We now know a great deal about changes that take place in the brain with Alzheimer's disease, but there is still much to learn. What other changes are taking place in the aging brain and its cells and what influence do other diseases, genetics, and lifestyle factors have on the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease as the brain and body age? Scientific research is helping to unravel the mystery of Alzheimer's and related brain disorders As we learn more, researchers move ever closer to discovering ways to treat and ulimately prevent this devestating, fatal disease.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Mystery alzheimer disease
• unraveling
• brain
• nia.nih.gov
• National Institute on Aging

[stacyjann]

I am the animation designer of this video, and I am glad to learn this video has been helpful to people who are involved in teaching and/or learning about this disease. If you go to this website: nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Publica­tions/Unraveling/

you will find downloadable video files and illustrations, as well as the book " Inside the Brain: Unraveling the Mystery of Alzheimer's Disease"

[AlzheimerUniversal]

Hi Stacy @stacyjann, is a big pleasure and honor be your friend. Thanks for ur work, and sorry for my poor english. I love your job "Inside the Braing: Unraveling the Mystery of Alzheimer's Disease", really fantastic ! :)

[mediavision2000]

i am interested in downloading this for a documentary. How could we get it?

[AlzheimerUniversal]

@mediavision2000 Stacy says: go to this website: nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Publica tions/Unraveling/

[shadoonrha]

i am interested in downloading this for a presentation is it available somewhere?

[AlzheimerUniversal]

@shadoonrha Hi Shadoonrha, you can load this in your hard disk using Firefox & the plugin "DownloadHelper"

[lemonrain13]

This is horrifying... everyone take Vitamin E! Vitamin E is thought to prevent dementia!

[22snus]

crazy shit



[krispymarie]

Best alzheimer's animation I have seen yet

[celonman]

this really helped me !!!

[dannydjesus3478]

Splendid video.

[flexbrat]

@chinamanspeakenlis religious nuts have to go , thats holding everyone back !

[chinamanspeakenlis]

@flexbrat no matter how hard we try, thr r some religious nuts who wont let this happen.

[murdemo]

@stacyjann this video is great, just a comment, the direction of the signal is not always propagating down an axon to the cell body and dendrites of the next cell? i mean, basing in the video i think you make the opposite (sorry for my english)

[flexbrat]

lets get this correct also the cells of new borns their brain cells have the ability to re generate damaged cells like those in older ppl , so stem cell replacement is simple now JUST DO IT ! its just like a cection of the liver re organizing the cells but now its the brain cells ! is cash profit the goal only of pharmacies ! an infant in its forst 30 days after birth has the abilty to correct and grow healthy cells transfer those cells !!!!!!

[flexbrat]

look get real proof ! blood transfusions only from blood from ppl under the age of 20 yrs old to these ppl re activate the cells to repair the problem like stem cells ! the cells hold repair properties which older blood cells DO NOT ! never accept a tranfusion unless u know the age of the a doner !!!!!