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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biochim Biophys Acta. 2011 Sep 2;1812(12):1630–1639. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2011.08.012

Figure 5. Are AD and brain aging distinct or overlapping entities?

Figure 5

As shown in (A), changes to brain and CSF Aβ are due to and representative of AD. Whether or not an individual with Aβ changes has a dementia syndrome is a function of how long the patient has had AD. This view tends to split brain aging and AD. As shown in (B), Aβ changes constitute a biomarker of brain aging. If the molecular and biochemical pathways that regulate APP and Aβ metabolism surpass a functional threshold beyond which compensation is no longer possible, dementia and neurodegeneration occur. This view tends to lump together brain aging and AD.