<p>(I'm asking this question as a lay-person with respect to neurobiology, so apologies if it lacks rigour.)</p>
<p>Dementia progression is different for each individual, but it seems like there are some general patterns to progression. For example, the Alzheimer Society notes that memory and cognition problems seem to be common in early stages, while some sensory functions appear to be intact even in late stages (hearing and touch, for example). (<a href="https://alzheimer.ca/en/help-support/im-caring-person-living-dementia/what-expect-persons-dementia-progresses" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://alzheimer.ca/en/help-support/im-caring-person-living-dementia/what-expect-persons-dementia-progresses</a>)</p>
<p>The NIH's National Institute of Aging notes that &quot;At first, Alzheimer’s disease typically destroys neurons and their connections in parts of the brain involved in memory&quot; (<a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-happens-brain-alzheimers-disease" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-happens-brain-alzheimers-disease</a>). There is further mention that the disease often begins in the hippocampus, a key region for memory.</p>
<p>Parkinson's also frequently shows memory and cognition impairment in the early stages (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.20974" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.20974</a>).</p>
<p>There seems to be a model in which the disease progresses along neural networks (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.12.040" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.12.040</a>), but the paper doesn't seem to address point-of-origin.</p>
<p>First, is it true that there are general patterns to dementia progression? (Within or between different underlying ailments/causes.) Or can there be completely different patterns of progression - for example, losing brain stem function before forebrain functions? Or loss of sensory function before memory problems appear?</p>
<p>If there is a pattern, what are likely hypotheses/explanations for this? (I'm imagining something like &quot;stronger neural connections lasting longer&quot;, though I realize that's very hand-wavy and may not be very scientific).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-25T21:54:24.583Z
It's a good question, but we typically ask that questions show some evidence of prior research, like a link to a paper or article about the symptom progression you're asking about. Also, Alzheimer's is not a synonym for dementia; dementia is broader and includes other neurodegenerative diseases that are distinct.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-25T22:09:43.813Z
Edited in response to comment. I realize Alzheimer's is not synonymous with dementia, but there's no tag for "degenerative disease" or "dementia" - "Alzheimer" was the best match I could find.
Stidgeon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-25T22:20:14.763Z
Great, that improves your question a lot to make clear you're looking at commonalities across causes of dementia.
Bryan Krause
<neuroscience><pathology><alzheimer>
Possible explanation for patterns of dementia progression?
Stidgeon
# Possible explanation for patterns of dementia progression?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-03-25)

(I'm asking this question as a lay-person with respect to neurobiology, so apologies if it lacks rigour.)

Dementia progression is different for each individual, but it seems like there are some general patterns to progression. For example, the Alzheimer Society notes that memory and cognition problems seem to be common in early stages, while some sensory functions appear to be intact even in late stages (hearing and touch, for example). (<https://alzheimer.ca/en/help-support/im-caring-person-living-dementia/what-expect-persons-dementia-progresses>)

The NIH's National Institute of Aging notes that "At first, Alzheimer’s disease typically destroys neurons and their connections in parts of the brain involved in memory" (<https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-happens-brain-alzheimers-disease>). There is further mention that the disease often begins in the hippocampus, a key region for memory.

Parkinson's also frequently shows memory and cognition impairment in the early stages (<https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.20974>).

There seems to be a model in which the disease progresses along neural networks (<https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.12.040>), but the paper doesn't seem to address point-of-origin.

First, is it true that there are general patterns to dementia progression? (Within or between different underlying ailments/causes.) Or can there be completely different patterns of progression - for example, losing brain stem function before forebrain functions? Or loss of sensory function before memory problems appear?

If there is a pattern, what are likely hypotheses/explanations for this? (I'm imagining something like "stronger neural connections lasting longer", though I realize that's very hand-wavy and may not be very scientific).

**Tags:** neuroscience, pathology, alzheimer

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's a good question, but we typically ask that questions show some evidence of prior research, like a link to a paper or article about the symptom progression you're asking about. Also, Alzheimer's is not a synonym for dementia; dementia is broader and includes other neurodegenerative diseases that are distinct.  
> **username_0**: Edited in response to comment. I realize Alzheimer's is not synonymous with dementia, but there's no tag for "degenerative disease" or "dementia" - "Alzheimer" was the best match I could find.  
> **username_1**: Great, that improves your question a lot to make clear you're looking at commonalities across causes of dementia.  

---

## 0 answers

