Description:
<jats:p>The populations and loss of neurons, the density of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and senile plaque (SP), and the macroscopic shrinkage of the subcortical areas in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) were quantitatively evaluated using computer‐based image analysis techniques. Twelve subcortical areas were examined at distinct levels of the brain in eight AD cases and five age‐matched controls. The areas examined were as follows: the nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM); globus pallidus (GP); putamen (PT); claustrum (CL); the anterior thalamic nucleus (THA: anterior ventral thalamic nucleus); medial thalamic nucleus (THM: medio‐dorsal thalamic nucleus); lateral thalamic nucleus (THL: ventro‐lateral and ventro‐anterior thalamic nuclei); subthalamic nucleus (ST); substantia nigra, zona compacta (SNC); red nucleus (RD); locus ceruleus (LC); and raphe nucleus (RP). Distinct neuronal loss and a high density of NFT were shown in the nbM, LC, RP, CL, SNC, and THA in the AD brain. Because of the high density of the NFT relative to the neuronal loss, neuronal loss in those nuclei may have been mainly caused by NFT formation. In the THM and THL, no distinct neuronal loss but some degree of NFT formations was detected. In the GP, ST, and RD, neuronal shrinkage or loss was shown in patients with AD. With respect to the SP, the density of SP in the CL, PT and THM was high (1.7–2.2%), whereas that in the SNC, GP, ST and RD was low. This finding suggests that SP may not have major effects on the neuronal degeneration observed in subcortical nuclei of patients with AD. Although macroscopic shrinkage of all subcortical nuclei was seen in AD patients, selective vulnerability to atrophic change was not evident at macroscopic levels. This comprehensive morphometric study offers more precise information for evaluating the subcortical dysfunction in AD patients than do conven‐tional neuropathological examinations.</jats:p>