The Discovery of Amyloid Plaques and Neurofibrillary Tangles by Alois Alzheimer

Around 100 years ago, Alois Alzheimer's Observations

Around 100 years ago, due to technological limitations Alois Alzheimer never observed amyoid plaques and neurofibillary tangles in his postmortem analysis of brain sections of his patient. In his publication on the case of the disease, he did famously conceptualize the existence of those microscopic sub-cellular structures in the brains of his patient.

Question:

Is the statement true or false?

a-true

b-false

Answer:

Alois Alzheimer did observe amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain of his patients around 100 years ago, making the statement false.

Explanation:

The statement that Alois Alzheimer could not and did not observe amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles about 100 years ago in his postmortem analysis due to technological limitations is false. In fact, Alzheimer and his colleagues were able to identify abnormal clumps and tangled brain fibers in the brain of his patients—now known as amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, respectively—a hallmark in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. These discoveries were documented in his report published in 1911.

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