- Commonly debated issue
- AB and tau cause faulty neural-network activity and impair synapses between neurons that form and maintain microcircuits supporting learning, memory, and other cognitive functions
- Vulnerable groups of neurons decrease and die 
- Excitotoxicity - overstimulation of neurotransmitter receptors on neuronal surface membranes
- Collapse of calcium homeostasis
- Inflammation
- Depletion of energy and growth factors

Cause of Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer's 

- Shrinkage of brain regions involved with learning and memory (shown on MRI)
- Aggregation and accumulation of amyloid-B (AB) resulting from increased neuronal production of AB, decreased activity of AB-degrading enzymes, or alterations in transport processes that shuttle AB across the blood-brain barrier

Michigan State University

- 100% certainty requires post-mortem exam of the brain
- History from family members
- Assessing cognitive function with neuropsychological tests
- Brain imaging
- Tests of cerebral spinal fluid

Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease

Mucke, L. Alzheimer's disease. Nature 461, 895–897 (2009). https://doi-org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.1038/461895a

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